Ake Senkotsu
by drakensis
Summary: The MisAdventures of Chousen Asagao: In the far future of the Soul Society, a Shinigami gets by with a little help from his friends. Features mostly a cast of OC.


Shinigami wore black and white. Mostly black. Bunch of… what was that word that Makiuzu-kun used? …Goths.

Chousen Asagao looked at himself in the mirror. He was a Goth too, it seemed. Black kimono, black hakama, the only breaks being the white of his socks, belt and the visible edges of the kimono worn under the outer garments. Well, the sandals weren't black either.

Previously he'd worn student's uniform – white kimono and blue hakama – so the feel of the clothes was familiar, comfortable. But that was a little more cheerful than this scarcely relieved black. Heck, before that he'd worn a panoply of colour – reds, blues, rich purples or subtle greys. Not that he was a clothes' horse but he'd at least had a little colour to work with.

Not any more.

Now he was a Shinigami and had to be serious, professional. "Tch," he snorted.

.oOo.

**Ake Senkotsu**  
The (Mis)Adventures of Chousen Asagao

.oOo.

Half an hour later he was out of Sereitei and ensconced in a little bar not far outside. One not quite reputable, or at least with the image of that. One that served students of the Spirit Academy, even if they weren't supposed to be there strictly. Probably the instructors made up that rule to get students to go to places like it, rather than to somewhere really dangerous.

Ah well. Asagao liked it. That was what counted.

He'd thrown a cloak over his kimono in a threadbare disguise of his shinigami uniform – enough to let people know he didn't want to be treated like one, not enough to suggest he was really trying to hide what he was. Everyone went along with that sort of thing – it was that sort of place and he wasn't the first Shinigami to do that there. Whatever he saw there, assuming it wasn't anything really important, was off the record.

For a few minutes he drank at the bar, acknowledging the congratulations of a few patrons who recognized him and bent the rules enough to 'have heard about' his graduation. Then he took a tray to one of the back tables and tucked into the platter of fired meat, cheese and peppers, washing it down with mugs of fragrant tea.

Tea wasn't all the place served of course, and as the night grew longer and the crowd shifted and changed, one corner of the bar was getting louder and louder. Asagao's eyes narrowed speculatively: young Morino and his crowd were getting pretty sloshed tonight – probably ing about rival classes, who had been promoted and who had not. Fact was that Morino and a couple of his cronies had been in the Academy longer than Asagao, who wasn't exactly a prodigy, fairly obviously hadn't graduated this time either.

All that added to the distinct possibility that they would likely cause trouble if they saw him here. Morino wasn't a noble as such but he was from a good part of Rukongai – Asagao had moved around a lot but he'd been in the outer districts for longer than the little snot had been dead. They'd not liked each other from their first meeting and it was unlikely that that was going to get any better.

Fortunately, he'd paid at the bar so all he had to do to avoid the more or less inevitable mess was get out without anyone noticing. Getting into a brawl right now would ruin what was left of his day.

Leaving a couple of coins on the table as a tip, Asagao stood and began to work his way slowly around the room, avoiding the booths being occupied by Morino's little band. Most of the other patrons, seeing the purposeful look in his eyes and recognising his outfit beneath the cloak gave him the space to move.

It was the last obstacle that foiled him – unfamiliar with the cloak, he snagged it on the corner of the doorframe and was jerked to a halt. With a muttered curse Asagao freed the garment, but it was too late.

"Gutless!" called Morino, loud enough to bring a halt to all activity in the bar. He was fond of that little play on Asagao's family name. "What's the matter – don't you want to drink with us?"

Asagao rolled his head back along his shoulder, a long, slow move that let him see Morino out of the corner of his eye. "I think you've already drunk enough to regret it in the morning," he said coolly. "Assuming that you can keep it down that long."

Morino's face, already ruddy from the effects of the beers he'd been downing, went almost crimson. "You think you're so hot?" he snarled, rising to his feet. Almost a dozen more students followed his example.

Just – ing – great. "It is getting a little warm," Asagao said lightly, and stepped forwards. "Why don't you come out here and we can cool off."

.oOo.

The bar faced one of the canals that carried water through this district, Asagao stood with his back to the rail and watched as Morino and nine other students that Asagao had labelled as assholes over the years he'd endured their company, filed out of the bar. A few heads appeared at the door to watch but most of the patrons wanted nothing to do with whatever was going to happen.

Asagao narrowed his eyes and stretched his fingers to work out any stiffness. "Trust me, Morino. You don't want to do this," he warned the younger soul.

"I've always said that a man who wears his hair in a ponytail is a man who's not to be trusted," Morino sneered.

"Indeed," Asagao said in a bored tone. "And often without the slightest provocation."

"Heh," the shorter man snickered. "Why wait for provocation, eh?"

Asagao nodded. "My thoughts exactly," he said with a slight smile that was the last thing Morino saw before the Shinigami's knee impacted in his face, dropping the student to the floor with a nasty sounding crunch.

For his part, Asagao was already moving on, doffing his cloak to flip it in the face of one of Morino's pals and misdirecting his charge so that his throat ran into Asagao's elbow. A whirling turn put the end of his scabbarded Zanpakutou into the gut of another student, doubling him over so that his neck was the perfect brace for the black-clad swordsman to flip himself into the air, somersaulting as he returned the sword to his belt and came down with his feet on the shoulders of another crony. Unprepared for the weight, the boy collapsed, but Asagao had already moved on to kick one of his buddies in the face.

The little gang wavered as Asagao landed on the street, turning slowly to face him, sleeves rippling in the wind. Thus far, their little game had not gone to plan. Instead almost half of them were on the ground – including their leader – and their target wasn't even scratched. In fact, now that they thought about it, he was carrying a zanpakutou – and even sheathed that was more than any of them could boast.

All things considered, they were beginning to see this as a bad idea.

Morino lurched to his feet. "What are you waiting for!?" he demanded. "There's only one of him! Get him!"

"I've got a better idea," Asagao told the group, smirking. He unlimbered a side kick into Morino that laid him out again. "Why don't you cool your head?"

Then he picked up the groaning student and threw him casually over the rail and into the canal.

.oOo.

Southern Rokungai had borne the brunt of the Great Hollow War. Even after two centuries the land was still scarred by the marks left by Hollows and Shinigami alike. Tonight, as rain fell upon the great plain, one of those marks was occupied.

Chousen Asagao drew his robes around him as he sat in the shelter of a large boulder that had been flung up when some long ago Shinigami's Shi Kai or Ban Kai had torn a long gouge through the ground. He could still see the mark - softened by time perhaps, but it had become a landmark stream for travellers in the area. The same was true of the boulder of course - hundreds of travellers had used it as a shelter before Asagao - one or more of them stacking smaller stones at one end to complete the windbreak effect.

As a result, although the rain was driven by the wind to sweep across the largely open plains, Asagao was largely dry. There was even kindling for a fire, although he'd decided against it. Whatever the comfort that he could take from it, he didn't really need a fire and he didn't really have the time to replace the firewood. No, better to leave it for someone who would really need it.

Instead, sitting crosslegged (the primitive roof provided by the boulder was a little too low for him to stand) he thought back to how he had come to be here.

He'd not been entirely surprised to graduate - the final exam had been easier than he'd thought in some ways. Which hadn't made sitting next to Kokuei-san and waiting for the results to be announced any easier - the red-haired youngster had been worried about his low Hakuda scores, although Asagao suspected that the Sensei would put less weight on that than upon his own deficiencies in Kidoh. It would be nice, he admitted to himself, to be able to use a Kidoh more powerful than a fing penlight some time.

Even after he himself had been given a pass, rather than being passed over (as he'd privately feared) in order to develop his spiritual pressure a little more, Diaz had still been nervous. Needlessly, of course. The younger student had also been promoted to join the Gotei-13 and in Asagao's opinion would do well if their training was anything to go by. The two of them were closely matched with their Zanpakutou's - Asagao's slight edge in speed more than balanced by Diaz's marked advantage in strength.

They'd parted ways shortly after, to change into their new uniforms and undergo the other official and unoffical rituals of graduation - to which Asagao had added a quick trip to a favorite bar and an unwelcome but not unsatisfying encounter with a couple of disgruntled upperclassmen who'd failed to graduate on this occasion. What satisfaction he'd reaped by dropping their leader into a canal was tempered by the suspicion that his first assignment had been a consequence.

Of course, it _could_ have been a coincidence that rather than being assigned immediately to a Division he'd been sent out on a long and lonely patrol to watch for Hollow incursions into Southern Rokungai. In fact, it probably _wasn't_ anything to do with Morino now that he thought about it. Assuming that he was being victimised wouldn't get him anywhere - however nice it would be to have a Division behind him someplace if he was going to tramp all over Rokungai. In fairness, it was probably the fact that he'd already done a fair bit of wandering in the South after the War that had got him into this. There had been a lot of rebuilding to do around here and he'd already spotted a couple of buildings that he had worked on still standing. If you're sending out scouts then someone who knows the area is a likely choice - particularly when most of the younger Shinigami hadn't gone all that far from Sereitei yet. But whining about it - to himself so he didn't make an arse of himself - made him feel a little better about the whole business.

So Chousen Asagao, two hundred or so years old and a Shinigami of the Gotei-13 sat and sulked in the rain, laughing at himself while he did so.

After a while he fell asleep. And if his dreams troubled him, there was no reflection of it on his face.

When he woke, the sun was low in the east. The rain had died away and although clouds still coved the sky, they had lightened considerably. Rising to his feet, Asagao brushed down his hakama and stretched, a few joints popping to remind him that sleeping was not something best done in seiza.

Leaping up to the top of the boulder he drew his zanpakutou and began to work through his kata. For a few minutes all that he could hear was the rustle of his kimono, the slap of his sandals on the wet stone and the whisper of the zanpakutou as it cut through the air.

For most of an hour he stood there, battling first one and then more imaginary foes, plucking his saya from his belt for the Steel Devil Dance kata, then running through the Fivefold Bulwark Stances and the Five Dragon Forms. Sweat trickled down his face and through his beard before he finally returned katana to saya and leapt off the rock to land on the track once more, feeling the wet ground absorb the impact of his landing.

"Well, quite a bit of distance to make up," he said out loud. "Can't see any Hollows here - but I'm sure I'll find one if I look hard enough." With that cheery thought he broke into a run, bounding down the track with all the enthusaism appropriate for a new and potentially glorious day. As if in recognition, the first break appeared in the clouds and the sun lit his path for hi, setting the night's puddles aglitter with reflected brilliance.

The small inn was a surprise to Asagao at first - he would have expected a few houses at least be be around it. Then he noticed the other track across his path and realised that the inn was well placed to serve not only travellers but was neatly placed between the nearest village and some of the further flung fields associated with it. Quite a neat bit of marketing really.

_Ah... why not? It had been a warm day and a decent meal would be nice,_ he decided and turned to enter the building.

"A table for one?" the innkeeper asked as Asagao removed his sandals. "Yes sir, Shinigami... right this way." She ushered him to a tatami with a view out over the road.

Only a few minutes later there was raucous laughter from outside and several men walked through the doorway. "Innkeeper!" shouted the leader. "Put out a table for us! We struck it **rich**! We want **servce**!"

"Service!" chorused his coterie and laughed again.

"Hurry, innkeeper, bring sake!" the leader continued. "We want sake!"

"Y-yes sir," stammered the innkeeper, who was carrying Asagao's meal on a small table that she could carry like a tray.

"And keep it coming!" called another of the men. "We're **celeberating**. We're gamblers and we just struck it rich so we've got reason for merry-making! **Bring on the drink!**"

"R-right away, sir." Laying the food down in front of the Shinigami the innkeeper scurried away. She was not a small woman, but the gamblers were larger and there were half a dozen of them.

"Sake! Sake! We want sake! Bring sake! Sake!" the gamblers were chanting by the time the innkeeprrushed back, a tray stacked high with bottles and cups.

"**Hurry, you toady!**" demanded the leader. "Before we get mad and tear this inn apart!"

"Yes sir!" she answered, submissively and began to pour for them. It wasn't really necessary - half of them chose to drink straight out of the clay bottles.

"Bring **more** and keep it coming!" demended another man.

"Yes sir," the woman repeated. "Er... would you please keep the noise down? You're disturbing the other guests. Please."

"**WHAT?**" shouted the leader, discarding his cup, letting sake spill over the clean floor, to catch hold of the woman by the front of her kimono and pulling her downwards, tumbling her onto the floor.

"She's trying to **spoil** our party!" catcalled another.

"**So**! Trying to **ruin** our **fun**, eh?" the leader sneered. "**Ho**, fellows, what shall we **do** with this party-pooper?"

Asagao finished his fish and paused, considering possible courses of action.

"**Throw her out!**" came the cry and the innkeeper was flung out of the building, landing in the mud left by the recent rainfall.

Asagao decided upon the rice and swallowed the pickles that topped the bowl.

"That'll **teach** her to ruin **our** party," the chief gambler declared.

"Hey, **you**, slug nose!" called the man to his left, pointing at the only other customer at this early hour. "What are you **looking at**? You trying to **spoil** our party too?"

"M-me?" the man managed before the cry went up: "**Throw the scum out!**"

"**Look**! There's **another** who would break up our festivities!" This time the finger - all that could be spared from cluthcing a bottle - was pointed at Asagao.

"How **dare** he **interfere** with us!"

"He's a shinigami!" said the leader.

"They're the **worst** of the lot - he's probably one of those Keigun assholes, to boot."

Asagao chewed on his rice, considering how he should proceed, and contemplating the strange inability of most people to pronouce their 'r's.

"Stupid shinigami!" "Get out while you have the chance!" came more taunts. "Your sword doesn't scare us!" "Well, **get out**! What are you waiting for!"

"**Ho**!" one gamber suggested. "He's **too scared** to move!"

"Maybe he wants to **stay** and **join** our party!"

The leader laughed. "But you'll have to be **entertainment**! All right Shinigami, **dance** for us or we'll throw you out like the others!"

Asagao picked up his rice bowl and scooped up another mouthfl, not even looking in the gamblers' direction. Then he washed down the rice with a sip of tea.

"**DANCE, I SAID!**" roared the leader. He glared at Asagao and then marched over to towards, him, face set in what was presumably an intimidating glare. Asagao couldn't tell without looking, which he didn't feel any great need to do. "Okay, shinigami, you've had your chance! Let's **throw** him out!"

He lunged at Asagao and there was a blur of motion as the shingami rose to one knee, zanpakutou flickering as it wove a cage of steel around the gambler, sending him staggering back - face going from the red of fury to a deathly pale in a fraction of a second.

Then, suddenly as if it had never happened, Asagao returned to seiza, sheathing his zanpakutou and resuming his meal without a word.

The gambler stared at the shinigami and then down at himself, patting at his grubby kimono to look for wounds. He didn't find any.

"**Ha! Missed** me! Not a scratch! What an **inept** shinigami!" he chortled. "We'll **teach him** to get **tough** with us! **Come one fellows! Let's throw him out!**"

"Err... wait a minute!" one of the gambler protested, looking down.

Another followed his gaze to the floor. "This **fly's** been cut in **half**!" he exclaimed, jaw dropping in surprise.

"This one too!" "Those **three** also!" "And **another**!"

Asagao sipped at his tea as the gamblers stared at him, their faces reflecting terror and awe. Then he turned to them, as if seeing them for the first time. "Oh, was there something that I could do for you gentlemen?" he asked politely, a twinkle in his blue eyes.

He waited until they had fled the door and were well beyond hearing distance before he set down his cup and fell over backwards, laughing his head off at their reaction to that little parlour trick. "I only wish Hollows were so easily discouraged," he chortled.

.oOo.

Chousen Asagao shook the dust of southern Rukongai out of his cloak and folded it away before entering the gates of Seireitei. Being out of uniform would be a bad idea, when he was only just returned.

He was barely through the gaves when he saw a familiar face. "Yo, Diaz-san!" he called.

Diaz walked out of the 1st division headquarters to get some fresh air, when midway through his walk his thoughts were interrupted by a familiar voice. Looking up, Diaz noticed Chousen Asagao waving him down. "Hello, Asagao-san! I haven't seen you since graduation! How are you?"

Asagao chuckled, "A bit footsore, but good otherwise," he replied. "I've been out on patrol down south. How are you doing?"

Diaz laughed a bit, scratching the back of his head. "I've been alright, I was assigned to the 1st division by Shinkou Masaru himself upon graduation, but I think I'll be having a transfer soon, I've had a..change of interests." Diaz looked to his zanpakutou, "I need a way to practice though, to become closer to my sword...it bothers me that I cannot hear its cries."

The other shinigami shrugged. "Well, it's early yet. Can take a while to hear your sword, from what they said." He paused and an idea struck him. "Hey, if you want to practise - and if you've got the time, we could go spar. Just like old times back at the Academy."

Diaz nodded, "Yes, I've got the time. Shall we use one of the courtyards? I would like to see how much you have improved in the time since I've seen you."

"Sounds good," Asagao agreed. "I saw one back a way that no one seems to be using at the moment."

Diaz smiled warmly. "Let's go then. I'll follow you."

Asagao quickly led the way to one of the convieniently sized courtyards that were an architectral feature of Seireitei. Like all of them it was paved with square stones and surrounded by eight feet tall walls. "Looks like it's still empty," he said.

Diaz nodded once more, and took his distance from Asagao. "Are you ready?" Diaz asked as he drew his zanpakutou from its saya and gripped it in a ready stance.

Asagao nodded his head and drew his own zanpakutou, holding it one handed in front of his face, blue eyes looking past it to lock onto Diaz. "Let's go." For all his announced readiness, he seemed content to yield first move to Diaz.

Diaz began to move forward at a moderate speed, pulling his zanpakutou to attack diagonally at Asagao's neck. _In the academy, my reiatsu was always more than his, but he was slightly faster, and matched my skill with the sword. I'll test the waters with something easy._

Asagao caught the probing strike on the blade of his zanpakutou, and slid sideways out of it's path, not placing any great force behind the block - just enough to avoid it. _He's stronger,_ he thought. _But no faster, I think._ He lashed out with his free hand at Diaz' shoulder - taking advantage of the close quarters.

Diaz skipped backwards, narrowly avoiding the attack from Asagao's free hand. _I forgot, he can use hakuda as well. He seems faster._ Regaining his balance, Diaz charged again, this time attacking from his hip, horizontally slashing at Asagao's side, making sure that his distance is just enough that he's in range of attack, but not close enough to be hit with hand to hand combat.

Jumping back from the slash, Asagao chuckled. "Not falling for that old gambit?" he asked, a grin on his face. "Glad you're not slipping so badly." Then he charged, feinting at Diaz' left thigh and then turning the cut in hope of cracking the flat of his blade against his opponent's wrist as he parried, still holding his sword only one-handed.

Diaz fell for the feint, Asagao's greater speed getting the better of him, however his reaction was still decent, releasing his zanpakutou with his left hand and taking the damage head on, relying on Asagao's reiatsu not strengthening too much since the last time they met. Diaz seemed to have luck on his side, as the damage wasn't as great as it could have been. "I see your reiatsu hasn't increased too much..but your speed and skill have risen drastically. I admit that I cannot keep up...but I haven't used all my tricks yet!" Diaz smirked, releasing more of his spiritual pressure in an attempt to weigh down Asagao.

Asagao grunted acknowledgement of the assessment - somewhat startled by how little effect the attack had had upon Diaz - and growled as he felt the other man's reitatsu begin to weigh down upon him. _Damn... he's stronger... much stronger!_ The pressure was sapping his speed, but he still had a trick or two up his sleeves. "Kyah!" he shouted and lunged forwards, zanpakutou blurring as he rained blows against Diaz's defenses.

"Che" Diaz grimaced as his speed and swordmanship were not good enough to keep up to all of the blows. Only a few nicks and cuts, but I can't let him do this... Diaz released his reiatsu completely, and struck at Asagao's sword, intent on pushing it into the ground.

_And stronger again?_ Asagao realised. _How much has he been holding back?_ There was no time to pull back, his only chance was that Diaz was committed to the attack. Letting his sword fall in the face of the attack, the blond shinigami planted his free hand on the floor next to the hilt and put all his weight on the hand, curling his legs close to his body and spinning to extend them again, above Diaz' zanpakutou (though hazardously close) - driving his feet straight at the other shinigami's chest.

Too fast! Diaz let his instinct take over and rolled to the side, the kick catching him at about a 45 degree angle, lessening the damage by about half. Diaz let the kick spin him around completely, swinging once more with his zanpakutou, slightly wildly, his control wavered by the damage from the kick, but his speed increased by the added force to the spin. This has to hit him...or I might be in real trouble, I only have one thing left...

Asagao had turned as well, bringing up his sword to parry Diaz. Without the added momentum however, his own turn was slower and he felt the zanpakutou cut into his right side a second before his own weapon intercepted and halted the strike. _OW! GODAMMIT!_ a distant part of his mind protested. On his back and with his weapon pinned into pushing back the source of his injury, Asagao reacted instinctively, unleashing an upwards kick with his left leg, realising a moment too late that possibly kicking Diaz _there_ would be a bit much for a mere sparring session.

"Whoa there!" Diaz's eyes widened, fortunately Asagao's aim was slightly off, catching Diaz on the inner thigh, doing a bit to cripple his movement.

"Sorry," Asagao apologised. "Reflexes got away from me."

Diaz smirked at Asagao. "My movement is slowed..but I'd assume yours is too, that cut seems to be a bit debilitating..." Diaz slashed once more, wildly at Asagao's other side, his injured leg throwing his ballance, leaving him slightly open to counter attack. Shit! I didn't count on that!

Noting that Diaz's balance had been thrown off, Asagao chose not to rely entirely upon blocking the attack - the reitatsu he was feeling was considerably stronger than his own and he couldn't be confident of stoppoing another hit. Instead, he hooked his ankles behind those of his opponent and pulled back - with a bit of luck he'd have Diaz on his back and could use the opportunity to get back on his own feet.

Diaz felt his legs ripped out from under him as he hit the ground, jarring his head a bit. Scrambling to get back to his feet, he felt the cuts and nicks from Asagao's previous attack wearing on him, especially a particulary nasty one on his right arm. Noticing Asagao rising to his feet too, Diaz smiled with a bit of a twinkle in his eye. "It's almost done now, but you..I'm sure, did not count on this!" Diaz concentrated slightly and began to chant. "With gentle snow and frosty ice, freeze the pain and blood of this wound with the strength of the coldﾁc Chiyudo #4, Kajikamu." The cold energy from his spell wrapped its way around his right arm, stopping the bloodflow and the pain of the wound. "This is my secret, but I can't hold it long. The final attack will be now!" Diaz charged at Asagao, aiming his zanpakutou at the side that he already wounded, knowing the reaction time will be slightly slowed.

Scrambling to his feet, Asagao's eyes widened as he saw Diaz using a Kidoh to bind his wounds. _What - he wasn't all that much better than me at those when we were at the academy! Someone's been studying._ Caught off guard, he hadn't the time to throw up a decent block for the attack, instead leaping in hope of avoiding it entirely. The move was not entirely successful - although he spared his side from another injury, the zanpakutou cut into his leg and dirupted his intended counter strike. Instead of coming down with the pommel of his weapon striking Diaz on the forehead, it was going to be more of an uncontrolled full body block. _I hope this does some damage, or I might have to concede,_ he thought as pain from the leg wound began to reach him.

"Ack!" Diaz nearly panicked as he saw Asagao's full body and weight coming down on him, but noticed the leg injury and reacted instincively, knowing Asagao's injury would prevent him from countering. Diaz dropped his left hand from his zanpakutou and rolled with Asagao to the ground, effectively pinning him and bringing his zanpakutou to his throat. "Do you yield, Asagao-san?" Diaz panted heavily.

Diaz groaned as his ribs creaked from the mistaken attack, awaiting Asagao's reply. _Shit, I wasn't fast enough to remove all of the force, I can't continue myself._

Asagao, paused, looking up at Diaz and was half-tempted to say 'no'. The other shinigami was about as beaten up as he was. Of course, given the position of Diaz's zanpakutou... well, Chousen-kaasan hadn't raised any idiots that he knew of. "Yeah... I give," he coughed. "Damn... I've gotta work on the landings."

"Good..." Diaz rolled off and lay on the pavement. "Man, I think I need...some medical attention. You're way stronger than before.."

"Hey," Asagao replied, grateful that his own ribs were intact. "I'm stronger? Check out your reitatsu. And when did you go all Kidou-master, anyway?"

Diaz looked away, ashamed. "I lost control of myself, a second me, with orange eyes, lives in my heart. It wants to kill, to destroy. I will become a kidou healer now, to make sure that any damage it causes can be repaired. Don't worry, I don't plan to forgo my zanjutusu and hohou training either."

Asagao blinked. "A second... huh... kidoh healer?" he said thoughtfully. "That why you're figuring on leaving First Division?"

"Yes. I'll be joining the new healing division once the captain has been selected." Diaz responded as his vision began to blur even more. "We need..medical help..quickly.." was the final thing Diaz said before blacking out completely.

"Oh, great," Asagao complained. "We need medics, so naturally the kidoh healer passes out." With a groan he rolled over and pushed himself up to stand on his good leg - his right leg wouldn't be supporting his weight anytime soon. Then, holding his wadded up cloak against his side, the bloodied Shinigami headed for the courtyards' gate - half hopping, half staggering. "Where's the nearest medical post anyway?"

.oOo.

Genzentaru lunged forward with his arms extended and his Zanpakutou held straight in front of him. Jumping forward several feet he tightened the grip on his zanpakutou and tilted his hands to the side making it so the cutting edge faced left. He bent his arms in to his body drawing the hilt of the zanpakutou against his stomach. Turning his arms down he pointed the sword against the floor and then swung his arms sending the blade into a graceful arc that hit the practice dummy a glancing blow off its right arm. _One_ He thought to himself as the blade struck the dummy breaking lose and spreading in all directions straws from its body.

Hitting the ground after his jump he sprung forward with his feet and tilted his head down and arched his back as he went into a graceful roll. As the ground rolled across his back Genzentaru held his Zanpakutou horizontally in the from in front of the center of his body in the roll. As his feet touched the ground at the end of his roll he sprung forward again. Getting closer to the wall he held his Zanpakutou in front of him and drove its point and gouged it into the spiriton material that comprised all of soul society.

Tightening his grip he pushed upwards snapping his body upwards. For a second he let go of the handle of his zanpakutou. Spinning his body Genzentaru once again faced downwards as his feet came to rest against the spiriton wall. Legs bending from the impact Genzentaru reached down with his right arm to grab the handle of his Zanpakutou as his left arm flung upwards to balance him out. As his legs finished folding inwards he pushed them out launching him forward and dislodged the Zanpakutou from the spiriton wall letting lose chunks of the material.

Springing through the air as it pushed back billowing through his robes Genzentaru held his Zanpakutou upside down and backwards with its edge facing towards him and the blade pointed behind him. Bringing his left arm down onto the handle of his Zanpakutou he twisted his right hand around while letting the leather of the hilt slide along his left hand. Stopping his hands spin he gripped the handle tightly with both hands and with the Zanpakutou now facing down away from his body.

Coming upon the practice dummy yet again he brought his arms forward and leveled the blade in front of his face as the sun shined down on it glinting of the finely honed steel. Snapping his arms forward with a cry his struck the puppet a gash along its neck sending hundreds of straws flying in all directions. Using the sword as a lever in the dummy he spun himself around and launched off the dummy and landed a few feet away with his sandals sliding against the ground stirring up dust and gravel and his left arm reaching down clawing against the ground to slow his backwards slide. His right arm gripped the Zanpakutou and held it over the ground pointed to his side. _Two_ he thought to himself as he stopped almost lying down on the ground a few feet away from the dummy.

Lifting his left hand slightly off the ground Genzentaru turned it so it was facing palm up pushed off the hair hanging down on his face and away from his eyes. Pushing himself off the ground using the Zanpakutou Genzentaru stood straight again and looked towards the dummy with a mask of determination hung over his face. Taking the Zanpakutou off the ground he turned it around and gripped it tightly with his left hand near the coastguard and his right hand near the bottom. Spreading his legs into a fighting stance his left slid backwards and his right stayed in place. Legs bent he brought the blade leveled with his eyes and turned it so that the flat faced inwards, the dull edge up, and the sharp edge down.

Opening his mouth he let loose another cry and ran forward charging towards the dummy and crushing the straws that he had cut off under his feet. Coming closer to the dummy he let go of the zanpakutou handle with his left hand and brought it down in a line with his leg with his right hand. Opening his left hand wide he latched it on the dummies head. Pushing off the ground Genzentaru tightened his grip on the head of the dummy and flexed the muscles in his arm to swing him around. Letting lose when he had gone into a semi circle Genzentaru brought down his blade with his right hand slashing a light but long cut directly in the center of the dummies left arm from the shoulder to wrist which let loose another burst of straws.

_Three!_ He thought to himself as he somersaulted backwards in the air and drove the blade into the spiriton floor gouging inches into it in the process and snapped down towards the floor halting his flight. The second his feet brushed upon the floor he pushed off again dislodging the blade sending chunks of spiriton flying as he lunged forward back towards the dummy with mindless intent of scoring a hit upon his defenseless and easily sliced foe.

Running low to the ground he brought his blade up so that was going along the contours of his body as he leaned forward in his lunge. As he approached the dummy Genzentaru launched himself off the floor into a small spin that put his head facing the side of the straw dummy. Releasing the blade with his left hand he brought his right forward to slice into its side as he whistled by through the air. _Four_ he thought to himself. Spinning around he reached with his left hand into the floor pushed off sending him into the air and landing stopping his flight. Leveling the blade outwards he turned it and slid it in the sheathe with a hiss of steel, showing he was done for the moment with his combo.

From the entrance to the courtyards Genzentaru was using for his training, there came a slow clapping. Standing just inside of the open gates was his former classmate, Chousen Asagao. The older of the two novice shinigami was dusty from the road, but he stood erect, his zanpakutou at his side His shinigami robes had been cut through in two places to reveal bandages beneath them, and the fabric of the robes were stained with blood - and it was quite fresh blood at that, barely dry. "Hey there, Gen'tru," he said amiably, butchering the other Shinigami's name as he had had the bad habit of doing since their first meeting. "Sharpening up the old sword arm?"

Genzentaru said softly to Chousen "It is Genzentaru, though I think you already know that. And yes, I am training." Looking over Chousen Genzentaru noticed the bandages and cuts in the robes. Extending his legs upwards he stood up. Unconsciously he reached over and rubbed the scar on the back of his wrist as he thought about the other Shinigami's injuries "What happened to you?" he asked indicating the bandages.

"Oh," Asagao said, his face and voice conveying nothing but good cheer. "I ran into Diaz - you might remember him from the Academy, back in the dim and distant past of last week? - and we got to sparring and..." he shrugged his shoulders. "I think we might have gotten carried away just a little." He chuckled lightly to himself. _The medics certainly seemed to think that we did - they really tore a strip out of me for using a zanpakutou to spar and I guess Diaz will be in for the same lecture once he wakes up._

"I see," Genzentaru said simply. "I remember Diaz." Genzentaru stopped talking and it seemed as if he was done - he was never known to be talkative.

"Yeah, well you might have more to talk about to him, these days, Gen'tru," Asagao advised, repeating his truncation of Genzentaru's name. He seated himself with his back against the wall, cross-legged and resting his zanpakutou across his lap. "He's apparently had some sort of epiphany - or psychotic episode, if there's a differnece - and gone all kidoh-master. Hell of a thing to find out about in mid-swordfight," the blond explained, resting his head on the stone, cushioning his cranium from the wall with the bunched hair of his ponytail. _And a hell of a thing to happen to an honest swordsman, but he's got to walk the path that's right for him._

Genzentaru nodded "So who won then?" he asked lightly

"Oh, he did," Asagao said shortly, his satisfied expression not slipping one jot at the admission. "Good fight." _More satisfying than running around Southern Rukongai without finding a single solitary Hollow to kill. Nice to see some of the old places again though._

"Was there anything in particular you wanted?" Genzentaru asked

"Oh, just rubbernecking," Asagao said, holding up his hands in a proffession of innocence. "Never too late to learn a little. Why?" he asked. "Am I... ah... cramping your style?"

"No, it is fine by me if you watch me train," Genzentaru said as he shifted himself to face the dummy again. He placed his right hand onto the sword handle and slid his hand down to the crossbar tightening his grip.

Asagao shifted himself a little, settling his buttocks a trifle more comfortably on the stone paving and eyed Genzentaru's grip critically, but he refrained from voicing whatever comments upon its merits might have been going through his head.

Ziing, the blade rang as Genzentaru pulled it out of its sheathe with lightning speed and brought it up through the arm of the dummy cutting it off. Bringing the blade down Genzentaru levelled it as he got ready for another strike, it seemed that something was irking him.

The same could be said of Asagao, who clicked his tongue as he saw the extent of the cut and jerked his head slightly to one side, pursing his lips in disapproval. It had been a quite serviceable cut actually, but it had been wider than Asagao's preferred style and he was fairly sure that he could have take advantage of it, had he had been fighting against Genzentaru.

Genzentaru sliced through the dummies midriff sending the upper body flying. Crouching Genzentaru pushed of the ground to jump after the dummy. Turning in midair he positioned it so he was under the flying part. _One_ Another slice cutting the head of the dummy off _two_ this time the other arm _three, four, five, six, seven, eight_ finally the blade cut through the dummy like butter and completely destroyed the torso. Tilting his head Genzentaru did a somersault in midair to come down low facing back to Asagao

Asagao cleared his throat. "You might want to tighten those cuts a little," he suggested diplomatically. "Unless you're not worried about ripostes?" _That might lead to your lungs and other vital organs, or the spiritual equivalents, being scattered all over the floor if your opponent is on the ball._

Looking forward Genzentaru graciously said "Thank you, I will remember that." From his tone and his actions it was clear that Asagao wasn't the reason he was irritated.

Apparently relieved that his mild criticism hadn't been objected to, Asagao nodded his head a few inches. "Want me to show you how I'd do it?" he offered hopefully - the opportunity to involve himself rather than playing the role of spectator appealing to him. "Might not be quite what you're trying for but it might give you a pointer or two."

Genzentaru shrugged "I would greatly appreciate it, I am always open to learn new things."

With a grin, Asagao lifted his sheathed zanpakutou from his lap and used it as a support to pull himself up from the ground - not that he couldn't have managed without it, but why should he make his life more difficult than it had to be? The world, well, the world of the Soul Society anyway (and from the sounds of it, he'd gathered that the mortal world was no different in that important respect) presented quite sufficient difficulties on its own. He walked over to stand facing Genzentaru across a distance of perhaps four yards of the paving, ignoring the other dummies entirely. "Okay, like this," he said and his hand flashed to the hilt of his zanpakutou.

There was a hiss of air as the blade flashed from its scabbard and sunlight glittered along its length as it lashed out in a cut that would have severed the arm of a dummy, had one been there to receive the damage and obscure Genzentaru's view. Asagao drew two lines in his mind's eye between his own shoulders and those of the taller, younger shinigami and as the blade reached the edge of the resulting corridor, he turned it's path downwards and then up and across in a cut that would have carved an opponent in half. Leaping into the air, sleeves fluttering in the wind as he followed the example of Genzentaru, Asago chased the upper half of the target aloft, setting his zanpakutou whirling, but never letting it stray outside of the notional corridor as he harried the target with short, whip like one-handed strikes that appeared to be delivered almost entirely from the wrist. The sequence of strikes culminated when he set his left hand around his right hand to reinforce it as he unleashed a long, savage, descending cut that would have opened a dummy, or a man, up from top to bottom.

As the blade reached it's lowest point, only millimetres from the ground, Asagao landed, his legs bent to absorb the impact with barely a sound. He raised the zanpakutou respectfully in gesture of salute towards Genzentaru, who he was now standing only a man's length away from, before returning the sword to its saya in a single fluid movement. His lips had been thinned in concentration, but he relaxed them now and his eyes were gleeful.

Genzentaru followed the swords path with his eyes even as he stayed in his place. He didn't flinch or even think of moving out of dangers path, if an accident happened it would serve him right. He wouldn't actively seek to hurt himself, at this moment, but neither would he prevent it unless him not being injured served some greater purpose.

Genzentaru said quietly "Impressive, I've never been as good a swordsmen as you, but I do make up for it in other ways."

Asagao shrugged off the compliment. "We all have our strengths and weaknesses," he said bluntly. "It's no secret that I'm lousy at Kidoh, as you may remember - and my reitatsu is probably significantly less than yours." The latter was probably of more concern he admitted to himself. Against someone with strong enough reitatsu he might not succeed in harming them even if his sword struck them.

Genzentaru nodded as he thought back to all the practices and training they had done "Your right, I can't accomplish what I need to like this, I have to become stronger and so I train." Genzentaru sighed. Suddenly his eyes lit as he thought of what he said _I'm getting him involved in my own sorrows, I have no right to drag someone down the path with me. He would bear me no thanks and neither would anyone else_, Lifting his hand Genzentaru brushed his hair backwards and said "Never mind." rapidly thinking of how to change the subject even as he was becoming re-aware of the ache in his heart and the pain he was feeling

"Have you seen anyone else from our class since we graduated," he asked his voice cracking slightly

"Just Diaz," Asagao said. "I've been out in Rukongai for a while. You?" _Something's on his mind,_ he thought. _Wonder what's bugging him. He always quiet back at the Academy,_ he remembered. _Always figured it was just his way, but now I wonder... What is it that he feels he has to accomplish? It seems... ominous._

"I've seen one or two of them around but I haven't talked to them" Genzentaru nodded his head and closed his eyes for a few seconds. It seemed he was leaning forward for a few split sections before his head snapped back up and he said "I haven't had any assignments lately so I have been training here since graduation"

Asagao looked at him thoughtfully and then tipped his head to one side in realisation, as he recognised the cause of the eye movements - from personal experience of having had his done the same a few times. _Either he's terminally bored by talking to me, which at the risk of being egotistical, I doubt, or he's dead on his feet._ "Gen'tru," he asked calmly. "When did you last get some sleep?"

"The night before graduation" Genzentaru said almost in a whisper

Asagao rolled his eyes. _Exhausted,_ the Shinigami concluded. _No wonder he was getting sloppy._ "Why not? You're no use to anyone if you go loopy from sleep deprivation, you know."

"I know that but I don't deserve to rest. Even now I am no use to anyone until I get stronger, I doubt I would be able to destroy any but the weakest of hollows" Genzentaru said, looking up into the sky he watched as the clouds went by and finished "Besides I am used to it, I've gone weeks without sleep before, both in my first life and in Rukongai."

"And if you keep it up, you'll be dead," Asagao grunted. "Again," he added, remembering that it was somewhat difficult to be _in_ the Soul Society without that particular qualification. "How much stronger will you be then?"

"I know my limits, I realize if I go too long without sleep it will be bad, I just can't sleep though. I have too much that I need to do, too much for me to rest" _and too much to atone for me to ever get the rest or amenities i need with ease_Genzentaru hoarsely said back "I was going to try to sleep tonight. As well as eat something."

Asagao shook his head grudgingly. "I don't know what drives you," he said reluctantly. "And if you don't want to tell me then I'll not ask you. But..." He sighed in frustration. Why did people have to be so difficult to deal with? "Oh hell, I was never any good at talking to people. But there's all sorts of proverbs about people trying too hard and coming a cropper. Try not to live up to them, please."

Genzentaru smiled thinly "Thank you for your concern" looking down at his hand he realized he was still gripping his zanpakutou tightly. Raising his arm he put the tip into the sheathe and drove it in. "I will try not to push myself in the future like this, its just hard not to."

"Well, whatever you feel you need to do," Asagao advised him, as sagely as he could manage. "You'll need your strength for it. Build your strength, don't waste it."

Dropping this line of thought for the moment Genzentaru asked Asagao "So what was your last assignment like?"

"Pretty boring," the shorter shinigami admitted, accepting the change of subject gracefully. "I was hoping for a few Hollows, but the worst I ran into were some rowdies in an inn." He snapped his fingers as an idea came to him. "That's it!"

"You, Genzentaru," he said, using the other shinigami's name correctly for the first time in quite a long while - certainly the first time when he'd been addressing him, "Will get some sleep, and when you're rested I, Asagao, will take you out to this little place, get some meat on those bones of yours." _And that way I can make __**sure**__ that you're not going to forget to eat or sleep - plus a good meal will probably put you right back to sleep again._

Smiling at the comment Genzentaru looked down at his arms, it did seem as if the old saying, nothing but skin and bones was correct. "Thank you for your kindness, I really don't deserve this treatment" He said even as he thought to himself and let a small grimace cross his face for a fraction of a millisecond _I don't deserve any good treatment in any way..._

"Huh," Asagao replied eloquently, unimpressed by the self-depreciation. Passive-aggression wasn't something that he admired particularly. Mind you, he was throwing his own weight around here, so he didn't suppose that he had much basis for complaining. Living in a glass house and so forth. "It's not about deserving it. 'Sides, I never put any faith in that karma/dharma stuff anyway."

"I don't really believe much in it either." He said in address to the issue about karma "I know the world doesn't care and most likely whatever I do won't affect what happens to me unless it was from a person I wronged, but still..." Genzentaru trailed off his speech

Asagao rolled his eyes. "Well, I guess I've no grounds to criticise any weirdness on your part," he said matching Genzentaru's depreciation with his own insouciance. "Most of the medical types think I'm a loony myself. Honestly, a couple of minor wounds and they get all bent out of shape..." the shorter shinigami declared in mock disbelief.

Genzentaru was enjoying himself, he rarely had any conversations let alone ones like this. Raising his eyebrow he asked simply "Minor wounds? If I seem to remember you once almost had your ear cut off and you called it a minor wound." Running his right hand through the back of the hair on his neck he finished: "What did it really entail this time?"

"Well," Asagao admitted ruefully. "Diaz got a couple of pretty good hits in - you can see where they were, I haven't fixed my clothes yet." He indicated the right leg of his hakama and the cut in his kimono just above his belt. "And I had to go get a medic for him, he cracked a few ribs, got cut up a bit and passed out."

"Ya I think that constitutes as a little more then 'minor wounds' Asagao". Genzentaru suddenly realized he was grinning openly and enjoying himself despite what he had intended _It won't matter will it, I can still atone and have a good time sometimes can't I?_ his thoughts and intentions were skewed Genzentaru realized _can't I?_

"Feh," said Asagao dismissively. "Neither of us was crippled or anything like that." _I could have kept going if he hadn't gotten his zanpakutou up against my throat._

"You would have been in the past life," Genzentaru commented, pushing his thoughts aside "It would have been much harder for you to find anyone about to use their reitatsu to heal."

"I'll take your word for it," Asagao said cheerfully. "I can't remember the human world, I've been in the soul society quite a while." Then he narrowed his eyes: "Now! Go get some sleep," he said firmly.

"It's okay I can still stay up a li..." Genzentaru started his sentence but a wave of drowsiness overcame him. His eyes closed and his head tilted down as he stumbled backwards apparently almost asleep on his feet

Asagao blinked, then laughed and stepped forward just in time to catch him before he hit the ground. "Come on, hero," he chuckled, shifting his grip to haul Genzentaru up and sling him over his broad shoulders. "Time for all the good shinigami to get some sleep." _And then a naughty shinigami like me can go see how I go about joining the Division of my choice - although I suppose getting side-tracked into this does qualify as my good deed for the day._

"When you're right you're right," Genzentaru said sleepily as Asagao helped him back to his house where he fell asleep almost instantly.

.oOo.

Chousen Asagao probably wasn't looking at his best as he approached the gates to the headquarters of the 11th Division. He was pretty much healed from the little sparring session that had gotten out of hand yesterday, but he'd not repaired his clothes yet, so there were still cuts to the right leg of his hakama and to his kimono, revealling bandages underneath.

"Hey there," he called to the pair of shinigami guarding the entrance. "Where do I go to volunteer for Eleventh Division?"

"Through those gates," Liadan said," Straight ahead, there's an office."

"Go in and speak to the secretary. Captain Torres is not in right now so you'll get to speak to Captain Cofresi," Liam said," He's pretty cool. "

One of the twins indicated the direction with a point of his finger.

"Thanks," Asagao raising his hand in appreciation for the information. He ambled through the gates, and used the hand to brush back his head and tighten the short ponytail that stuck out from the back of his head. Looking around, he spotted the office and went to the door, rapping his knuckles against the doorframe.

"Morning," the new shinigami said cheerfully. "Could I speak to Captain... Cofresi? I think that's it. I was hoping to join the Division."

Joaquin looked up from his desk, revealing odd hazel eyes that seemed to favor green today. He looked to be in his late 30's, early 40's and was dressed in regular shinigami robes except the captain's haoki he wore was a deep blue with the Shinzui kamon on it in various places.

"Come in, come in," the Spaniard said," Have a seat."

Asagao nodded and perched himself on the edge of one of the chairs in front of the desk, sitting back slowly and carefully. "Thank you for your time Captain," he said quietly.

"De nada, de nada," he said, the 'd's in the nada part sounding like a 'th' sound," Now, tell me why you want to join this division?"

For a moment, Asagao gathered his thoughts, then began: "I just graduated from the Academy. I'm not a Kidoh specialist - I'm a fighter. With this," he tapped his zanpakutou, "or with these," he raised his fists. "I'm not really suited to stand back from a fight."

"I've done one patrol already, just a short one, and I'm pretty sure I'd rather not keep doing that without having a Division to come back to. From what I've heard about Eleventh Division, this is the Division that best suits me."

"The new 11th Division is a heavy combat division," Joaquin explained," Others may view us as mindless but in fact, we are relentless. Relentless and loyal. Tell me of your thoughts about Commander Shinkou."

Asagao frowned. "I don't exactly know him, but most of the teachers at the Academy seemed to think highly of him. He sure did a good job stitching the Gotei-13 together since the Great Hollow War." The Shinigami scratched his head and spread his hands. "He's pretty much the boss, and I guess I trust him."

"You... guess?" Joaquin asked, an eyebrow quirking at the young shinigami seated beside him.

"Well, I've been around long enough to get a little cynical," said Asagao, steepling his fingers in front of his chest. "I've seen too many pedestals crack under idols - so I'm not going to assume he's infalliable. Doesn't mean I'd disobey orders or anything."

"There are guys I'd trust with my life, but not necessarily my wallet, y'know? Heck, I don't even know him myself. Naturally my opinion's going to be a little reserved."

"Understandable," Joaquin said," You are a little young. We do prefer people with a little more experience but those are in precious short supply."

He set down the paper he'd been looking at and stood up, drawing up to his full height of 6'0. He gestured for Asagao to follow him.

"A little test, you see," he said," By the way, you never told me your name."

Chousen nodded his understanding. Sure, he'd been around Rukongai quite a few dacades, but as Shinigami went he was a rank newbie. "Chousen Asagao," he replied, rising from his seat to follow the Captain.

"A strong name," Joaquin said," I'm Joaquin Cofresi, stand-in for Diega Torres and former Captain of the 11th. She's my... best friend you see."

He led Asagao outside to a little courtyard. There, he faced the young man.

"What is your martial art syle?"

"Whatever works," Asagao said succintly. "I started off with western styles and some Hakuda and most of the Academy training got layered over that. Predominantly Violet Bier," he clarified, naming a Shinigami martial style combining sword and unarmed strikes.

"Not bad, not bad," Joaquin said as he took up an open defensive stance," Now, let's see how well you fight. I will not attack. Only defend."

Asagao nodded, rolled his shoulders and then charged, sword lashing out in three quick cuts at the neck, hip and wrist of Joaquin as he ran past, the second cut a feint to draw the other man into position for the third

With each strike, the sword was guided away with two of Joaquin's fingers, letting enough spiritual pressure flow and then harden so that the blade would not hurt him.

"Hmm... I forgot to mention this was a hakuda fight but meh," Joaquin said lazily, ignoring the feint and pushing the sword away again," Granted, your swordwork could use some work but it isn't wholly bad."

Asagao grunted acknowledgement of that, and rather than the reverse cut that he'd intended to deliver to Joaquin's back, he flowed easily into an elbow thrust, sheathing his zanpakutou with his free hand

"Smooth," Joaquin said," Now, next test."

Asagao stepped back a little and raised one eyebrow questioningly.

Nodding, the former Captain released a little bit of his spiritual pressure. It grew in small, steady increments as Joaquin did not want to crush Asagao.

"We value endurance and determination," he said," So show me this. How strong is your will? How long can you take it? Once that question has been answered, how much more past that limit do you want to go?"

Asagao's lips drew back from his teeth as he leant into the flood of reitatsu. This was strong - it dwarfed anything he'd had directed at him before. His eyes were steady, though he kept his breath for pushing back against the pressure rather than talking. Sweat quickly began to run down his face. "As long as I need to," he muttered through clenched teeth. "That's what I want." His knees were shaking but he forced his back to remain straight.

Joaquin slowed the expansion of the pressure but crossed his arms and studied the candidate. Right now, he'd expanded about 200 points of pressure and held it there for a moment.

"How are you feeling?"

"like... shit..." Asagao admitted. "Knew... you're stronger..." One knee buckled and he paused to fight his way back upright. "Keep it up... might have to... pick me up... off floor"

"Stand up!" Joaquin barked, stepping up to circle Asagao," You have feelings right now, right? Use them. Mold them into the emotion and strength you need to stay standing!"

His humor faded, replaced by the same sternness that he used with Diega. His hazel eyes bored holes in Asagao.

"I won't scrape you off the floor," he growled," I'll leave you to the crows if you fall."

Anger flashed in Asagao's eyes and he straightened for a moment, then settled back, but not quite to where he'd been. He turned his head slightly to track Joaquin's movements. "Give new meanin'... t' eating crow," he wise-cracked in a strained voice. A vein throbbed on his forehead. and he lowered his head, straining for a moment before straightening his legs.

Joaquin increased his pressure a notch and smirked at the wisecrack.

"Nice, nice, you're doing it right," he said," C'mon keep it up. Let's see that same anger again. Push it into a rage if you have to."

Asagao growled under his breath. Rage wasn't exactly his thing. Getting mad ranked below getting even in his books. The possibility of throwing Joaquin off the top of the highest building of Seireitei entertained, but it wasn't quite the effect being looked for. His anger was cold, not hot. Focusing upon his own reitatsu he closed his eyes, pushing it back against the force of Joaquin's will. The tie on his ponytail snapped with a twang, spilling shoulder length locks of blonde hair around his face. With a howl of exertion he turned himself to face Joaquin and took a slow, painful step towards him, hand locked around the saya of his zanpakutou, beard dripping with his sweat. His eyes were locked on the Captain's face.

"There is such a thing as a storm in a teacup," Joaquin mused, cranking the pressure up a little bit more," Or those with a quiet rage. Those with the quiet rage are the most spectacular to watch. A calm demeanor... calm control... a lovely force to be reckoned with."

He challenged Asagao to stay standing with a mere smile and glint of arrogance in his eyes.

Blue eyes bulged under the increased pressure, but Asagao drove himself forwards another step. His right leg felt like hell and the bandages on it were marked with blood again. There was more blood on his face, a trickle had run down his nose, through his mustache and was mixing with the sweat in the hairs along his jaw. He licked absently at it, without really halting it. Another step and he was staggering. Pulling out his scabbarded zanpakutou he grasped the weapon in his right hand and leant on it. "Got any more?" he grated. "_Come on_, you _know_ you want to."

Joaquin smiled widely and cranked it up again. He could see the man was bleeding and wanted to push the young candidateas far as he would go.

"If I went as far as I wanted, you'd be dead. Now c'mon! Show me how badly you want this!"

That particular increase dropped him - his right leg crumpled and he barely caught himself on his zanpakutou, down on one knee. "Me... an'... my big... mouth..." he groaned and levered himself up again. _Can't take much more than this,_ he admitted to himself. _Aw, fuck it._

"Stand up, stand up! Back up your words, boy! If you got the balls to say it, then you better have the cajones to back up them words!" Joaquin yelled.

He circled Asagao still, his hazel eyes fierce.

"I _am_ standing, damn you," spat Asagao and unthinkingly swiped at Joaquin with his sheathed zanpakutou. He staggered but stayed upright. With the sweat dripping his eyes, he wasn't sure that he'd gone anywhere near the other shinigami, but he guessed that there was a bit of unthinking anger in him somewhere that had driven the attack.

"You are upright, yes," Joaquin said, easily avoiding the swing," but when one stands, they stand firmly. They cease to stand when they tremble. Stand tall, confident, boy."

"S-Tand! Tall!" Asagao snapped and flipped away his sheath to lunge at Joaquim, a lunge that was evidently destined to end on the floor once it reached the Captain, whethere it hit him or not

As soon as Asagao fell, Joaquin's spiritual pressure relented and the Captain squatted down beside the fallen shinigami.

"Now, let me say this. Does the ground feel very good to be on? I'd imagine not. Stand up once more. No trembling. Only confidence and strength."

Asagao groaned. His vision was still shaky and he wasn't quite sure if he could stand up right now. On the other hand, nothing ventured...

"It feels quite supportive, actually," he muttered defiantly and gathered his legs beneath himself and then his zanpakutou, using them to start himself upwards. By the time he was up on his knees he felt enough strength return to stop leaning on the sword and leant it back over his shoulder as he rose to his feet.

Shaking his head, he braced his legs and lowered the zanpakutou to a postion of low guard. A deep breath and except for a stained face and bloody leg he had forced away the signs of the pressure that had been on him. With his free hand he raked back his hair. "Che," he muttered to himself. "not so good."

Smiling widely, Joaquin extended a hand to him for shaking purposes.

"Outstanding. Welcome to the 11th Division, Asagao-kun," he said.

"Thanks," Asagao replied, then an irreverant grin crossed his face. "And now things get tougher, I suppose?"

"They won't get easier," Joaquin replied," Now go get yourself patched up and report back here. I'll procure a room in the barracks and get some patches and shit for you. Alrighty?"

"Gotcha," Asagao acknowledged and went in search of the saya he'd dropped a few moments ago.

.oOo.

Chousen Asagao shook his head wryly as he looked at the little shack that Genzentaru called a house. He had been in a little too much of a rush the previous day to pay much attention to the ramshackle building, but it really wasn't the sort of structure that he'd care to be living once it started to rain, or if the wind picked up too much for that matter. Asagao, on the other hand, was looking quite a bit more presentable than he had been when he encountered Genzentaru the previous day. His black hakama had been cleaned and repaired neatly and he was wearing a new outer kimono, this one marked inside the lapel with the insignia of the Eleventh Division, over a somewhat less neatly repaired inner kimono.

The newest member of the Eleventh Division rapped his knuckles against the door frame (he wasn't sure if the door could take the impacts) but received no reply. His pale eyebrows rose slightly and the man pushed the unlocked door open quietly and walked into the main room on silent feet, glancing around for signs of life. Seeing no indications of Genzentaru's presence there, and not wanting to disturb the other Shinigami if he was using the bathroom, he cracked open the bedroom's door and peeked in to see if he was still sleeping.

Genzentaru came back to the world. Still almost asleep when he heard the knock on the door Genzentaru made an effort to wake himself up and to shake off his sleepiness, he was partially successful. When Asagao came into the room where Genzentaru had his mat he saw Genzentaru lying flat on his side with his eyes opened and his hand scratching his head as he said "Wo'st" almost incoherently and thought to himself _Who is it?_

_Damn, I woke him._ "Just me," Asagao answered in a low voice and began to close the door again. "Go back to sleep," he instructed. "There's no rush."

Taking a few seconds to recollect his thoughts Genzentaru raised his hands and rubbed his eyes. Feeling less light headed and more awake Genzentaru raised a hand up towards Asagao and said "No, it's fine I'm up I have had a good enough sleep, in fact this is the best I've had in months". Pushing himself off the ground with his elbows Genzentaru entered a sitting position. Able to see more clearly he appraised Asagao seeing him through the light of the sun shining through the cracks in the boards that made up his house. He noticed Asagao's new kimono and that he had the insignia of the 11th division engraved on it. "So I see you got accepted into the division" he said stating the obvious.

Asagao looked away and scratched at the back of his head dismissively. "Yeah... the testing was a little bit nerve-wracking, but I made it." A grin crept across his face, shattering the mask of indifference he had affected. "I guess I've got something to celebrate tonight."

Genzentaru lifted the edges of his mouth into a smile, he was happy for his new friend, he had gotten into one of the divisions of the Gotei thirteen. It was a good feat, showing that he wasn't just a run of the mill Shinigami. He had even gotten into the eleventh division, a division that was harder then normal to get into he heard.

Then the realization hit him, he had made a friend, he was being jovial with someone, he was feeling good for the first time in a long time, he wasn't working on his redemption or atoning for his crimes. He thought to himself _Do I really deserve to feel good, to have a friend, to be normal after wrongs I have done?_ He was in an emotional quandary. He had no idea what he was supposed, should he become friends, or should he reject Asagao.

_I'm split in two... One half of me desperately wants to accept him and become his friend, the other half wants to push him away coldly and remain just acquaintances, what should I do?_ Genzentaru Pushed these thoughts away like he had done before when they had surfaced. He locked them away and forced himself to forget, he couldn't deal with it, he did not know how.

Raising his hand he rubbed his eyes. Reaching his arm behind his head he stretched his muscles and asked "What time is it?" He knew he had slept a long time but how long he did not know.

"Just past noon," Asagao estimated, looking back over his shoulder at the shadows cast by the sunlight as it streamed through the outer door.. "I think you needed the sleep more than you thought." He grinned again, the teeth a gleaming crescent between his beard and his mustache. "If you're getting up then I'd better leave you to get dressed. Want me to make you some tea or something?" he offered.

"If you want to, the cups are in the cupboard over the counter, as well as the ingredients... seeing as that is the only place in my shack that has storage capacity" Looking up to the ceiling he made a motion of rubbing his chin and shrugged "All I have is really in there and what I carry" Genzentaru said "I don't need many material things"

"Right-o," Asagao confirmed and pushed the door closed before walking over to the cupboard to retrieve the kettle, which he filled with water and set it over the fire. He prodded the fire and added a few coals before taking tea leaves and two cups out of the cupboard. The fire, which had smouldered untended for most of the morning came back to life and soon the water was boiling vigorously.

Genzentaru stood up throwing off the blanket that had been covering him. Looking around he picked up his Shinigami robes and quickly dressed himself. Tying his sash around his waist he picked up his Zanpakutou in its sheathe. Sliding the blade halfway out he inspected it for any imperfections, seeing it was as polished and clean as ever he slid it back into its sheathe satisfied. Tucking it under his sash he walked over the to door and slid it open. Walking out he saw Asagao and said "Thank you for helping me yesterday, and today Asagao"

"De nada, as Captain Joaqiun told me yesterday," Asagao replied. "Of course, that was before he ran me into the ground, so maybe it doesn't mean what I think it means." Taking the kettle, he poured out two cups of steaming tea and passed the first to Genzentaru, taking a sip from the other. "Glad I was able to help."

Taking the cup out of Asagao's hands Genzentaru nodded his head in a slight bow. Raising the cup to his mouth he took a sip from it. Enjoying the taste he complimented Asagao on making it "Wonderfully done, thank you very much". Adding in a question he asked after taking another quick drink of the steaming hot tea "So how was the test like?" referring to the test getting into the eleventh division.

Asagao shook the kettle lightly, listening to the sound of the water sloshing against the sides. "Hmm, I don't think flattery's going to get you more than one more cup," he joked. "As for the testing - well, I said nerve-wracking and I meant it, but it was also quite painful. The Eleventh Division are heavy combat specialists and I guess the who did the testing wanted to see how far he could push me." The blond shinigami grimaced at the memory, then shrugged it off. Water under the bridge. "And he found out."

"At least you got in" Genzentaru pointed out "Not all Shinigami are powerful enough to get into the actual squads.". Raising the cup to his mouth he drained it of the rest of the tea. Standing in silence for a moment Genzentaru collected his thoughts and then said "That reminds me, I think I am going to try getting into the 8th division if I can"

"There is that - it would have been a pain in the a to go through that and not get anything out of except a new set of bruises." Asagao agreed. "Plus, no offense - division quarters are a but better than this. Or are you being masochistic?"

The right corner of Genzentaru's mouth twitched at this last statement. Unconsciously he rubbed the wide scar on his right hand. To himself he thought _Not anymore, at least_. Realizing he was rubbing his scar Genzentaru quickly dropped is hand to his side. He spoke through this as he remembered what had happened with not a falter he said "No, I just like it simple. I don't need much and this is easier to keep up then a larger house." It was true, he really didn't even spend much time in the shack. And only then he used it to eat and sleep, not much he needed a lot of room for.

"Your business," Asagao said shortly and dismissed the matter from his mind. He drained his cup quietly, a thoughtful look on his face and not feeling the need to say anything else on the topic, or any other topic for that matter.

Genzentaru stood their in the oppressive silence, he guessed he had let through more then he had meant. Looking away from Asagao he focused on the wall trying not to make eye contact. Raising his cup to his mouth he tilted it. Nothing came out and Genzentaru realized he had already emptied it. Reaching over he placed it down on the counter, then stood collecting his thoughts.

Asagao let the silence drag out a few minutes longer, cradling his cup between his large, callused hands, but before the quiet became uncomfortable (for him, anyway) he raised the kettle. "You want more tea?" he asked hospitably, despite being the guest. "Or shall we go get that meal I promised you?"

Genzentaru turned his head and looked back towards Asagao. "I thought flattery wasn't going to get me a second cup?" Genzentaru said trying to lighten up the mood. The silence hadn't bothered him much. He was used to it, but he had realized it was making Asagao feel uncomfortable. Waving his hand at the kettle he said "In any case, no thank you. I've had enough tea for now"

Asagao nodded and set the kettle aside next to his own cup. "Well then," he said, rising to his feet. "It's a little bit of a walk out to the place I have in mind, but that should only sharpen your appetite." _Not that that should take much, if you've not eaten for a week. And just the smell fo the food there should set you to drooling._

"Thank you very much again" Genzentaru said again. Walking over the sliding door that lead out of the house he grasped the indentation and slid it open letting in the full light of the sun. He stepped outside onto the gravel that was in front of his shack. He walked forward until he came back onto the regular spiriton street. "So where is this resturaunt?" he asked Asagao in conversation as they started down the street and away from the living area.

"Well," the bearded Shinigami admitted. "It's out in Rukongai actually, but not by very much. Anyway, they know me so there shouldn't be any trouble," he added, remembering the recent advisory to limit Shinigami presence in Rukongai given the recent tensions.

"Rukongai? What district is it in" Genzentaru asked, he probably should have known, there wasn't many resturaunts in the Seireitei, so that almost garuanteed it was out in Rukongai. He still would be going, unless it was too far away, he just wanted to be cautious considering that Shinigami were advised not to go into Rukongai off duty.

"First Eastern District," Asagao clarified. "Just inside the commercial quarter, not one of the up market areas or anything."

"Ok then, I guess there is nothing to worry about then" Genzentaru said as he scratched the back of his head. The first eastern district wasn't at all bad as he remembered. It was very close to Seireitei and most people living their had cordial relations with Shinigami. On the other hand, you never knew what could happen.

"Humph, well if we have trouble there then we've got more problems in Rukongai than I thought," Asagao snorted with obviously exaggerated confidence. _If we have wind up with riots right outside of Seireitei then things are already so fed up that a couple of off-duty Shinigami won't add appreciably to any provocation that the locals are feeling._

As they passed through another set of gates he gestured to their left, down a long avenue running East-West through Seireitei. "We need to go this way," he said, remembering that the far end of the avenue wasn't far from the eastern gate.

"Alright" Genzentaru nodded as he followed Asagao through the set of gates and into the avenue. "I really would not be surprised though if we do encounter trouble. Have you heard about that build up of hollows?" He asked remembering all the rumors and reports he had heard about how the hollows were building and coming together.

"Yeah. Sounds nasty," Asagao admitted. "Hope we get a chance to do something about it before it does something about us." _Like another Hollow War – and win or lose there might not be much left of the Soul Society if that happens._

"I wonder why they are gathering together like that" Genzentaru said with hopeful optimism "Hopefully the situation will just dissolve, I mean what are the chances that anything would be here that could order hollows around like that right?" Continuing his speech after a few seconds he added "I know it happened before but really what are the chances of it happening again and after so long?" He intellectually knew that the chances were high, but he didn't want to admit it.

"Ah well," Asagao said thoughtfully, his mood darkening. "Pretty high really. I mean, Hollows don't just do things at random. They're smart. And they had us pretty much on the ropes during the War. And any survivors would have had two hundred years, maybe more if they withdrew before the end of the war, to plan and organize." _Isn't __**that**__ a cheery thought?_

"You're probably right" Genzentaru sighed "I guess it really shows how new I am to soul society, all I know has been from the classes really. And you know I was only in the academy for a little less then a year" Genzentaru remembered back to when he had came to soul society, he had applied almost a day after he had arrived, and they had accepted him.

"Yeah, quite the prodigy, you are," Asagao said cheering up again, the dark mood broken by the change of the subject of their conversation. The past was less threatening than the future. "I can barely remember the Great Hollow War, just a few of the last mopping up actions. And, of course, I wasn't really involved. But even now, the Soul Society hasn't fully recovered."

"Really you were here for that long?" Genzentaru asked surprised, he didn't envision Asagao as being that old. He knew that the effects of aging were vastly slowed but it wasn't more readily apparent before then it was now. "When did you apply to the academy anyway?"

"Six - no, almost seven years ago," Asagao replied. "Not all that many souls have the strength to become Shinigami and sometimes it takes a long time to build up." _A very, very long time in my case,_ he thought. _It was a long, long time before I had any idea that I might have the spiritual strength to be come Shinigami, and even longer to nurture that strength._

Genzentaru shrugged "I spent little more then a day or two before I applied to get into the academy, they accepted me on the first try" he said "Then I got put into your class, I am happy about how fast I went through, but it came at the expense of learning the histories"

Asagao nodded his understanding. "Well, I suppose I'm the other end of the scale," he concluded.

Genzentaru shrugged "Well it doesn't really matter now, it seems like we are both growing at nearly the same rate now"

"I think that that's true. The Spirit Academy is there to get us to a starting point - from here we should both progress more rapidly."

_A starting point, in more ways then one_ Genzentaru thought to himself as they walked on in silence. _It was a starting point for becoming a Shinigami, a starting point for me to regain the path to my redemption._

Asagao looked around as they walked out of the gates of Seireitei. There was a broad road circling the border of the shinigami city, and he led Genzentaru across it and into a twisting alleyway that ran between small houses and the larger walls that indicated compounds. Even in the early afternoon the sun had a hard time reaching down past the overhanging roofs on either side, casting the alleyway in deep, sinister shadows. "Might as well stay off the main streets - no use courting trouble," he explained.

As they passed through the gates of Seireitei Genzentaru looked backwards and thought to himself _It feels so large when we are inside, most Shinigami think this comprises most of soul society_ Looking forward he appraised the vast areas that comprised Rukongai _but when I look outwards towards where most people live I see and realize that Seireitei is nothing but a drop in the sea or a blade of grass that that is the ocean, or plain of soul society. It may be important but it still isn't the center of everything as many people seem to believe…_

Genzentaru followed Asagao past the road and into the dark alleyway. The shadows were cool and it felt good to be in the shade after the intense beating rays of the sun. "Good idea" Genzentaru said in response to Asagao's plan.

"Most of my ideas are smart - except for the boneheaded ones," Asagao said, with an absolutely straight face as he navigated the twists and turns of the network of the tightly packed alleys with an ease that suggested quite a lot of familiarity.

Laughing Genzentaru followed him through the alleyway turning corners. Laying his hand against the wall as they walked it slid down it feeling the smooth and rough textures in the wall. "So do you have any stories to share about your boneheaded ideas?" he asked.

"I suppose I could come up with a few," Asagao said in a distracted tome, looking around a corner and shaking his head. The sounds of everyday life in Rukongai were evident from that direction, but nothing more sinister. "But it might be best to keep them for when we're eating." He pointed around the corner. "Okay, we'll be crossing one of the larger shopping streets down this way, and then we're there."

"Alright" Genzentaru said as he looked around the corner glancing upon the bustling highway of people in front of the store. The sounds of trading, talking, laughing and everything else assaulted his ears. He could see merchants and customers haggling and many other such sights.

Asagao led the way through the tides of people walking along the broad avenue, politely pausing to make way for an old woman whose path crossed theirs, and on reaching the other side of the street, he brushed aside a curtain covering a wide doorway and ducked inside without looking back to see if Genzentaru had navigated the short journey.

Genzentaru waded through the crowd saying "Excuse me", "Pardon me" upon bumping into people as he must have done. Turning around they saw the Shinigami and quickly got out of his way, he was able to get through the rest of the highway without much trouble as people parted before him. Feeling slightly embarrassed Genzentaru got to the curtain and lifted it before coming in following Asagao.

The restaurant was a quiet place compared to the bustling noise of the street outside. Decorative paper lanterns lit each small table and strings of smaller lanterns were hung behind the small bar, which seemed to be more for the staff to work from than it was to distrobute drinks. From a door to one side the smell of food cooking gave clear indication of where the kitchen lay. Asagao leant over to whisper a request into the ear of young, pretty waitress who stood just inside the doorway and she greeted him with a brilliant smile, leaving her post to guide the pair of them to a small table in a secluded corner near the back of the main room.

Genzentaru slipped off his sandals and placed them on the mat before following the waitress to the tables. He had noticed the exchange between Asagao and her and wondered if they knew each other. Coming to the table Genzentaru thanked the waitress. Pulling out a chair from one side of the table he sat down.

Sitting opposite Genzentaru, on the table's other chair, Asagao pointed up at a chalk board near the bar that had a short menu written upon it. The lanterns were more closely spaced near it, providing extra illumination. "See anything you fancy up there?" he asked. "I can recommend the beef bowl but there's a decent selection."

Twisting his head he looked over to where Asagao was pointing. Genzentaru noticed the chalkboard with the writing on it listing what was for sale and the prices. After looking it over for a few seconds he decided "I think I will have the chicken bowl" Looking over to Asagao he smiled.

"That's also pretty good," Asagao agreed and waved to another of the waitresses, who came over to take their orders. Like her colleague, the girl was decorative but efficient and Asagao recognised her as the cook's youngest 'daughter'. Itamae had adopted quite a string of girls over the years, and most of them moved on after a while working at the resteraunt, resulting in one of the more farflung families that Asagao had come across. At least two of the young women had set up resteraunts upon the same lines, although none had quite their father's touch with the food. At least one of the older girls had become a Shinigami – there was a shrine to her in the kitchens but Asagao had never met her, nor mentioned her to the burly cook. He paid the waitress upfront for the food, as was the custom here, sat back and stretched as she went to pass the order through to the kitchen.

Placing his hands folded across his lap Genzentaru thought to himself _I haven't done anything like this in a while... the last time I had ever eaten out like this was when I died.._ through this Genzentaru's face remained a mask of calmness and didn't let his worser emotions through. "So do you come here often?" He asked trying to get his mind off the subject of his death.

"Pretty often," Asagao confirmed. "It's a good place to eat quietly and it's quite handy for Seireitei. I wasn't cooking for myself much when I was at the Academy, so it was places like this or eating there."

"I don't really eat much, so food wasn't really a problem with me. I usually just ate something every couple days before going home to my 'family' after the academy" Genzentaru said thinking back to his days in the academy.

Asagao grunted his understanding. "Well, I tend to have more of an appetite," he said. "And I don't have much in the way of family these days." He lowered his eyes for a moment, thinking of those lost over the two centuries and more of his life in the Soul Society.

"Ours wasn't very much either; it was just a collection of people who got together to share expenses and sometimes to comfort each other. There was five of us there, me, an elderly couple who had been one of the few lucky people that found those they had been with in the last life, and two children."

Genzentaru continued "I guess I was something of the bigger brother to the children, I used to carry them around after the academy and play with them. The boy was five years old, and the girl was eleven." Genzentaru sighed "I guess I sort of miss them, we might not have been the closest family, but we still got along" As he said this Genzentaru thought back to his last visit the day before his graduation, it was one of those few moments that he treasured in life and allowed himself to have, because it pleased others and not just himself. The kids probably missed him as well as the parents.

Asagao blinked in surprise. He wouldn't have pegged Genzentaru as the type to break off from his family just because he was a Shinigami now. And there it sounded as if he regretted the loss. "You're allowed to stay in touch with them, you know," Asagao said gently, but with a note of criticism in his voice. "I know some Shinigami sever all ties, particularly in the outer districts, but there's no rule that says you have to if you don't want to."

"I never really thought about it like that" Genzentaru said "It just seemed to me like becoming a Shinigami meant exiting from the old community and coming into a new one" Genzentaru added "I was going to see them the second I graduated but with the added caution not to go out into Rukongai off duty…."

Asagao nodded approvingly. "Good," he said. "I think that's one of the reasons that we're facing unrest," he said, settling back into his chair with a contemplative look on his face. "During the War, everyone fought together. But now the Shinigami... _we_ Shinigami are setting ourselves apart. We're just one part of the Soul Society - heck, we're the only one's who really need food and it's not as if we grow that for ourselves." He shook his head, looking rather disappointed.

"I really think we should contribute more back into Rukongai." Genzentaru said "I mean we protect everyone from hollows, and not that that's a bad thing, but I don't think its enough. There are vast areas of Rukongai that are extremely unsafe and we barely do anything about it. We even force people to live in the worst of conditions in the higher districts. Don't you think if we Shinigami tried we could do something about this? I mean there is hundreds of us. Many of us don't advance for hundreds of years and it's almost a waste to support them as they laze around. We should try to improve the rest of soul society. If we worked hard enough, and spent enough effort into it I really think we could make most of Rukongai as good as Seireitei." Genzentaru raised his voice as he spoke about his thoughts.

"And we shouldn't stop at that either. With our powers we could even expand into earth besides the few patrols that go down to hunt hollows. Wouldn't it just be an extension of our duties? By making earth a better place wouldn't that mean that less people become hollows?" Genzentaru sighed and looked down at his bowl before continuing his speech "But I guess that would be almost impossibly to happen. Changes would have to be made, many people's outlook would have to be influenced and turned to the better. There would probably be severe oppositions to a plan of this magnitude." Genzentaru took in a deep breath and sighed finishing "I can only hope though"

Asagao leant across the table to listen intently as Genzentaru started talking. He'd not heard the young man open up like this before and he wondered if anyone had. For all his youth and relative inexperience with the Soul Society, he certainly felt passionately about this world. _Perhaps it's having an outsider's perspective that lets him see us like this,_ he thought. _Is the human world so very different?_ "Well, there's something that you said there that I strongly disagree with," he said firmly.

"What is it?" Genzentaru asked his curiosity piqued. He could see that someone would not agree with his ideals, but he was wondering what exactly it was that he disagreed with.

"You can do more than hope," Asagao said simply but firmly. "If you want things to change," he declared, "then _make_ them change. I'm not sure that you're entirely right about everything, but if it matters to you as much as it seems, why sit back and just hope?" He looked at Genzentaru, hoping that that had sounded like an encouraging pep talk and not a load of self-important bombast.

"I know that I shouldn't do that but I'm afraid and I am almost sure it is doomed to failure." Genzentaru said with a forlorn expression on his face "It would take something of great magnitude to change everyone's opinions. I know because I've studied history a lot in my past life. The public mind doesn't change easily, and especially that of the ones in charge" Genzentaru continued "Making the ruling class do but what they had assigned themselves to do if they don't want to do it is hard, and we Shinigami are the ruling class in soul society. It would take something powerful enough to influence everyone. Even If I got some people over to my side their would be heavy opposition and they would have to be swayed also…"

Asagao shrugged his shoulders. "Everyone said it would be impossible to rebuild the bridge across the Gorgas Ravine," he said. "But we managed - although it probably would go down as one of those boneheaded ideas I mentioned when we were on the way here. Very few things that are really worthwhile come easy." _That job certainly didn't,_ he mused.

The Gorgas Ravine had been a major geographical feature that local legend said was the result of a major battle thousands of years ago. The ravine was said to have been carved by the final stroke of a Shinigami's Ban Kai and the original bridge had been located at a narrow point, supported for part of its length by a free-standing column. Unfortunately, that column – and the bridge of course – had been brought down by a Menos Grande as it crashed along the ravine during the Great Hollow War. It had taken almost three years, and several failed attempts before Asagao and his crew had successfully built the new bridge, using a trick Asagao had had described to him by a relatively new arrival at the time - a 'suspension bridge' he thought it was called. It had been worth it though – they'd cleaned up on the wagers made over their prospects for success or failure.

"I feel that you're right, in some way. I know I should try and I will try but accomplishing something of this magnitude would make building the bridge across the ravine akin to swatting a fly" Genzentaru said his expression changing slightly. Genzentaru raised his hands and ruffled his hair in frustration, he saw almost no way he could accomplish this. Even if he became a captain it would still be almost impossible. "And your right I think, this would require a gigantic boneheaded idea" Genzentaru said and then sighed.

Asagao shrugged. "Well, most revolutionaries _are_ a little boneheaded. It doesn't mean that revolutions are never needed though." The food arrived, two steaming bowls of noodles, meat and boiled vegetables, which distracted Asagao from the conversation as he gravely thanked the waitress and snuck a look down her cleavage. "I'm not saying that you should or you shouldn't mind you; and as I said, I'm not really sure I agree with you. But this sounds like something important to you, isn't it?"

Genzentaru thanked the waitress profusely. Taking the bowl the hot bowl he placed it on the table and let go. Picking up his chopsticks gingerly he placed them into the bowl of soup and started to slowly rotate them as he waited for the food to cool off slightly. Still looking down at his bowl he said in a quiet voice "It is something important to me. I would gladly work my hardest to accomplish making the world a better place." Genzentaru thought _And I would gladly sacrifice myself to do the same. For my redemption, and because I know that everyone deserves to have a better life then most people do now._ Closing his chopsticks he Lifted a chunk of chicken out of the bowl. Blowing on it to cool it down he then placed it in his mouths and withdrew his chopsticks. Lowering his hand he rested his chopsticks back in the bowl then swallowed and finished what he was saying "I need to have a higher position for this any many other of my goals, that's why I was training so hard and so long" referring to the time he had just spent without sleeping or eating.

Asagao nodded and dipped into his bowl, scooping up a mouthful of noodles and savouring their taste as he chewed for a moment before swallowing them. "Well, that's the sort of thing I mean. You've got your goals, and you've determined that in order to acheive them, you need to reach a position of authority. And you've got a plan, or at least a notion, of how you are going to do that." He put a chunk of beef in his mouth and washed it down with a mouthful of tea. "You're not just seeing the obstacles, you're seeing ways to overcome them," he summed up once his mouth was empty.

Genzentaru relaxed his hands letting his chopsticks drop into then rest in the bowl of warm food. Gingerly wrapping his fingers around the kettle of steaming green tea Genzentaru picked it up and tilted it watching as the liquid poured into the cup. Stopping its flow by lifting the kettle back upright he placed it only the table. Grasping the cup in his hand he lifted it up and took a sip enjoying the warm liquid running down his throat. Putting his cup onto the table Genzentaru broached a question towards Asagao "Well I've told you some of my goals, what about yours?"

"If you don't mind me asking" Genzentaru added raising his hands.

Asagao rolled his eyes and covered his face with the hand not holding his chopsticks. "Ambushed!" he cried. "And by having my enquires turned back on me," he mourned, then laughed to show that he was only kidding – acting like an idiot, to put it less generously, but who did it hurt? All that Shinigami discipline might be needed when on duty, but relaxing had it's place too.

"For now, I want to be the best shinigami that I can," he said, leaning his chin on his hands and looking into the distance, past the walls of the resteraunt and at places and people that were very far away. "To me that means protecting the balance between our world and the human world - bringing Pluses here and putting Hollows back into the cycle. And I want to make Rukongai secure, because otherwise where can Pluses go to?"

"That's true, and like I said Rukongai becoming secure was one of the first parts of my goal." Genzentaru said, lifting up his chopsticks he took another piece of chicken and slowly chewed it. "So we have more things in common then I thought" Genzentaru said referring to their goals.

His face reverting into a frown he looked up to Asagao and asked him "Have you ever been to the higher districts of Rukongai? I mean in the seventies?"

"Eh, yeah," Asagao nodded, thinking of those far-flung regions. "I've not been all over Rukongai - it would take more than a couple of centuries to do that - but I've been to a far few of the outer districts."

"I only went there once before. I don't want to go back, I think you could understand why" Genzentaru said with a shudder as he remembered his disastrous foray into the eightieth district. He had gone there to help the souls he could, and he only got out through the help of others. The people there didn't only refuse his help, they rejected him and tried to kill him.

_Hmm, wonder what happened to him there._ "The outer districts aren't the nicest places in the Soul Society," Asagao agreed. He had is fair share of bad memories from there, but a few good ones as well. Of course, he hadn't gone there alone. "But there's more than one reason that that's the case."

"What reason could that be?" Genzentaru asked Asagao, he really saw no reason why the higher districts were so lawless and dangerous. He respected Asagao's opinion however so he listened to what he had to say about it.

"Well, to begin with," Asagao said, raising his right hand, and extending his index finger. "Most of the inner districts are organised to support the Shinigami within Seireitei – providing food, material for uniforms, things like that. It's the basis for the economy and it gives people a purpose and the semblence of normal lives and jobs, as they had in the real world. But because they're further away, that sort of economy never built up in the outer districts, so most of the industry you'll find there is based around entertainment, dealing in food, entertainers and gambling. That seems to yield a very different lifestyle for those who involve themselves in it."

"Secondly," he said, raising his middle finger, "and this hasn't always been the case, the outer districts have to deal with Hollow raids far more often than the rest of Rukongai. Granted, skirmishing isn't constant out there, the way it was during the war, but Shinigami do have to patrol as I was last week and the locals quite often fight back themselves – it's not always feasible to leave Hollows alone until a Shinigami turns up. So the communities out there tend to be more can be more militant and more concerned about Hollows infiltrating them – everybody's heard the stories about that. As a result they can get quite territorial, and once that's done it's an easy step to start fighting with each other."

Asagao raised his ring finger. "The third reason is a bit like the first: although the Gotei-13 do not _specifically_ police Rukongai, Shinigami from the noble clans that developed in the inner districts quite often used to live with their clans. And they would crack down on some sorts of behavior. And now that the Keigun have been reformed, the police function may be formalised. But obviously, Shinigami couldn't live in the outer districts unless they were stationed at outposts, or it would take them days to get to Seireitei, so there was less of a prescence to keep order, so anyone wanting to do less that 'respectable' things tended to take their problems further away from Seireitei."

"And finally," Asagao said, his little finger rising, "Once these conditions had _begun_, souls tended to move to places they were comfortable with. New arrivals, and existing residents, I guess, who want to act 'civilised' and conform, tend to set themselves up to the inner districts, whereas the individualists and the independent types, including those who just don't like Shinigami head out to the outer districts. Over the years the divisions just entrench themselves deeper and deeper."

"Of course," he qualified his analysis, "None of that is absolute. There are quite a number of places as far out as the 78th and 79th Districts that are perfectly decent places, they just happen to be further from Seireitei and don't feel the need to be closer. And counterversely, there are some places where gangs of thugs keep fighting over territory, because it's the only life they really understand, because of competition in what business there is out there and because they'd be stopped from doing that anywhere else."

Genzentaru was flabbergasted; he hadn't expected such an explanation. Pausing for a moment he opened and closed his mouth. Realizing he looked like a fool Genzentaru raised his cup and took another sip of the tea. He used this time to collect his thoughts before answering "I hadn't thought about it in such depth, my views of the outer districts must have been tainted by my visit to the eightieth" Was all Genzentaru could say at the moment.

Asagao blinked and then lowered his hand, an embarassed expression forming on his face. "Sorry," he said, with a nervous chuckle. "Thing is, I have seen a fair bit of Rukongai and I was kind of curious, so when I was at the Academy I spent a fair bit of the first few years trying to figure out why things were the way they were."

"I don't know what I just said is right, but it's some of the material I put together looking into that."

"You succeeded admirably at your pursuit, and it seems like an accurate description" Genzentaru complimented Asagao. Closing his chopsticks around some noodles he put them in his mouth and started to chew. _It seems like I met a very good person to have around. He's smart intelligent and seems to have a great grasp of how things work._

"Eh," Asagao muttered. "It's just a theory." He sighed. "Thing is, and this is where I'm not in agreement with you, is I'm not convinced that we shinigami should go overboard interfering with it. We shouldn't ignore Rukongai, and I agree that there's more that we can do, but there's a degree to which the outer districts provide a place that people can go if they don't want us to bother them."

Genzentaru sighed as he grudgingly changed accepted what Asagao had said "I guess they should have the right to a place where they don't have to deal with Shinigami but it just seems so pointless for there to be such dangers and lawlessness out there" Genzentaru shook his head in exasperation. He knew that even though they thought so Shinigami probably didn't have a god given right to rule everyone, but they were so he saw no reason why they couldn't at least do something with their power.

Asagao fiddled with his ponytail. "I hate to be the voice of mature wisdom - better known as being too tired," he added with a grin, "But we don't have any moral right to force them to live any differently." He raised his bowl and drained the soup that remained at the bottom of it. "Which isn't to say we can't provide them with alternatives, just that we shouldn't force them to take them. From what new arrivals tell me about the mortal world, societies without a safety valve don't do so well." He paused and shook his head. "There I go lecturing again."

"Its okay, I appreciate it in all actuality. It helps me to understand more of what I should be doing, and how I should be doing it. It's refreshing to get an opinion in from some one else" Genzentaru said. He really did appreciate Asagao's help, without he probably would stumble and mess up doing something drastic. It seemed like he did need someone to help him.

"That's one thing I hope you'll remember then," Asagao said seriously. "However good your theories are, if you want to put them into action, try to test them, or at least have someone check them out." He scratched at his cheek and grinned at an old memory. "I came pretty close to having a house fall down once because I'd not checked my numbers when I designed it. That _would_ have been embarassing."

"Really? Were you a builder in your past life or was this in Rukongai?" Genzentaru asked

"Oh, that was here. There was a lot of rebuilding after the Great Hollow War and I got involved and kept with the trade."

"I see, do you remember about your past life Asagao?" Genzentaru asked lightly, he did not want to offend Asagao if his past life was an issue.

"Not a goddamn thing," said Asagao cheerfully. He'd not thought much about the mortal world for decades – he had had a new life and a new family here, so what use would there be in dwelling on a distant past that could never be revisited. "I remember that I did remember it once, but it's not all that important to me after so long. Senility can be rather fun," he joked and stroked his beard as if it was fitting for a patriarch rather than the short, ill-kempt mess that it was.

Genzentaru smiled as he took a sip out of his tea. "I used to work at a computer store" Genzentaru said, he was actively trying not to think of the bad memories and focus on the good of his last life, well better that is. Customer service is never good. He could could remember the time a man had come in with a computer that was sold four year old and eleven month old computer it had just been broken, and he hadn't violated the warenty which actually was supposed to last for five years. It had cost more then the computer was worth to order the parts and fix it. Genzentaru admired the man in a professional sort of way, he was crafty and intelligent. Though this was only the least of what he had to go through there.

Asagao looked at him blankly. "What's a computer?" he asked, puzzled.

"Oh, this is going to be hard to explain, I forget that the technology for it is fairly recent" Genzentaru said. "Do you know what electricity is, at least," he asked. "Steam power?" If Asagao didn't this would too hard explaining.

"Well, sort of," Asagao said. "Electricity was used in lights, right? And steam power was some sort of mechanical horse?" _Or was it the other way around? I've heard about them, I think, but never saw the practial uses. Shinigami are much faster than horses and what's wrong with candles anyway?_

"Yes steam power was used to propel things forward, such as the primitive train. The train was a transportation device that was safer, faster, and generally easier to travel on in a whole after it was built." Genzentaru explained "Electricity you can think of as energy I guess, it has the ability to be used in lights as well as many other ways"

Genzentaru continued "It was used as another form of propulsion, like steam power and it also powered mechanical devices" As Genzentaru explained he was making shapes with his hands trying to show what he was talking about "Mechanical devices can do many things, from the simple light I told you about to a device that can send waves through the air projecting pictures and sounds onto other devices!" Genzentaru stopped his explanation for a moment and asked "Are you getting this so far?"

"I think I see what you mean," Asagaao said after a moment's thought. "I don't really see _how_ this electricity could do that, but as long as i can visualise the effects, I suppose I don't have to."

"I am sorry if my explanation is lacking, but it is basically assumed that we know what electricity is in our present day society. I never really had the need to explain it before, everyone knew what it was if not the greatest applications of it" Genzentaru apologized.

"Well, you seem to be doing alright," Asagao assured him. "The last guy who mentioned it to me said it was to do with harnessed lightning, which is ridiculous." _Lightning sending waves through air to project pictures! Better hope no one's in the way,_ the Shinigami chuckled to himself. He considered Genzentaru's explanation for a few moments and then suggested: "Instead of telling me how this computer thing works, why not just tell me what it does?"

"Its basic function is to calculate, it can figure out any mathematical equation in its range of capabilities within a millisecond. This is usually projected onto a screen" Genzentaru explained "Then there are the other functions. The computer can be used to create images, sounds, and for entertainment. There is also something called the 'internet' which allows instantaneous communication even across the entire world" Genzentaru continued "Computers are mainly used as a form of entertainment by most people but businesses and governments, and sometimes regular people can also use it to organize their files in an easier to access manor" Genzentaru finished "I could go into more detail, this is barely scratching the surface of what a computer could do, but I think you would need to see one for yourself to be able to understand much more about it"

"Sounds like a useful sort of thing," Asagao said thoughtfully. "For communication and keeping records and the like. Must make things quite different from the way we do things here."

"It does, not that I mind the way we have here it is good enough and it works due to our powers. Though I really do wonder what would happen if we introduced the technology from earth up here. We are hundreds of years behind them, which I guess is due to our aging slow down immensely allowing us to be up here for thousands of years" Genzentaru said, he had heard the captain of the first division was over a thousand years old.

Asagao frowned. _Probably trigger a social revolution. Yikes!_ "I'm not really sure. We do have a whole division involved in developing new technology after all. But if I recall rightly, it might be that they wouldn't work here because spiriton isn't quite the same as whatever makes up everything in the mortal world. Or at least, they'd have to be done differently and it would take someone smarter than me to invent that."

"It might be because of the spiritons, but electricity is still energy, it should still exist here. Oh well when I join the eight division hopefully maybe ill ask around, and if it is impossible then" Genzentaru shrugs and continues "If not maybe after everything I have to do is done, I will look at it" To himself he thought _I wonder how much soul society would change if we did bring computers up here. Those people with no spiritual energy might just become a worse version of addicted gamers down on earth if video games come up here also, they wouldn't have a need to eat, drink, or sleep…_

"It's nice to have plans for the future, isn't it?" Asagao said cheerily. He glanced around and then down at the two empty bowls on the table. "Would you like another bowl? I know I'm going to have one."

Surprisingly Genzentaru was still hungry, it seemed like the heartfelt conversation was good for him "Yes I would like one, thank you very much" he said.

Asagao waved for the young waitress who'd served them before, and asked if his old friend Itamae could possibly make the two of them another couple of bowls, just so that they could check that the food really was as delicious as they had thought it was the first time. When she agreed cheerily that this would indeed be possible, the blond shinigami passed her another handful of coins in payment.

Watching him pay Genzentaru suddenly offered as his manners requested "You sure you don't want me to pay for my share of the food" He asked. Patting a pouch near his belt it produced a jingling sound "It wouldn't be an inconvineance to me"

Asagao shook his head in refusal. "Hey, I said I'd treat you, didn't I?" he replied dismissively. "It's not a problem."

"Thank you again" Taking the kettle of tea he poured himself more and set it down on the table. "Your an amazing person Asagao, I have talked to you more in these few conversations then I have collectively in months" He complimented Asagao

_Somehow that doesn't surprise me._ Asagao thought. "Is that a good thing?" he asked lightly. "Should I go out and buy myself a larger hat to accommodate my swollen head? …not that I _have_ a hat to begin with, but..."

Genzentaru laughed good naturedly at Asagao's joke. Replying with a more serious tone he said "I don't know, it certainly seems to be helping me in more ways then one" To himself he thought _Maybe I have already been forgiven for my crimes... why else would I have been allowed into here? Maybe my death was my redemption, maybe my sacrifice was accepted…_

"Well, good," Asagao said, and then turned his head to welcome the waitress, giving her nicely filled out bosom an admiring look. She whacked lightly on him on the head with her tray in a familiar manner once she'd put the bowls on the table and giggled at his antics as she departed.

"Looks like you know her" Genzentaru said as he raised his eyebrow. He felt good for the first time in a very long time, his pain was dulled and his soul was at peace, the light of his redemption seemed closer then it ever had before. His hands hovered over the light and it did not seem to push him back as it was before.

"Well, I am a bit of a regular here," Asagao replied, he'd eaten there at least once a week for most of the last decade. "I guess she's gotten used to me and my little ways. She's a really nice girl."

Genzentaru nodded his understanding and continued to smile as he ate some more from his bowl. Setting it down he asked "So how are you progressing in Kidou use?"

Asagao shook his head. "Barely at all," he admitted without a trace of shame. "I've been mostly pushing my Hohou, Hakuda and Zanjutsu. I figure in the 11th Division those are waht I'll need most - not that I won't pick up kidoh when I can, but it's not my focus at the moment."

"I've been focusing on my Hohou mostly, and my kidou, though I am training my Hakuda and Zanjutsu, though I don't think I'll catch up to you in those areas too soon" Genzentaru said shaking his head.

"It takes all types," Asagao said reasonably. "And don't make too much of my progress - I haven't exactly achieved Shi Kai yet - you'll close a lot of the gap once you've got more experience in the field - and I'd be surprised if my Reitatsu is half of yours." _And that __**does**__ bother me._ he thought. _It's beginning to be something of a pain._

"Well neither have I, though I am hoping to soon" Genzentaru said in reply to the Shi Kai issue. "Besides Reitatsu doesn't always matter, skill does most of all. Unless your Reaitatsu is insanely huge compared to your opponents that is" Genzentaru smiled.

"Yeah, well that just hurts. A lot," Asagao said feelingly and reached down under the table to rub his right leg where he'd been injured the previous day.

"Oh? When has that happened to you?" Genzentaru asked, nothing like that had happened in the academy.

"Well, you remember I said that Eleventh Division's testing was painful?" Asagao asked. "One of the officers turned up the pressure until I fell flat on my face, to see how much it would take."

"Ow, that does sound painful. What officer was it?" Genzentaru said.

"Captain Joaquim," Asagao answered absently. "He's been in the Eleventh a long time - I heard someone say that he used to be the Captain of the whole Division, but I don't know how accurate that is." He looked up to see the question forming and grinned, raising his hands to spread his arms in acceptance of the point. "I know, I know, but everyone called him Captain, so what should I have done?"

Genzentaru shrugged and said "I wonder what happened if he used to be the Captain, I didn't know they could be displaced though I guess it makes sense now that I think about it"

"Well, if I find out, and if you ask me again after I do, then I guess I'll be able to tell you. I've not even been with the Division a full day yet - well, only just."

"I'll be sure to ask. So did you meat anyone else there?" Genzentaru said.

"More officers?" Asagao asked. He shook his head, flicking his ponytail from side to side. "Not that I know of, although I wouldn't necessarily know, would I? I did have a chance to meet a few of the Division when I moved in."

"So what did they seem like? I have heard a couple rumors about the eleventh and other squads but I don't know much else but hearsay"

Asagao chuckled. "I don't know how much faith to put in that sort of rumours," he said. "Sometimes there's something to them, but not always. They didn't seem like they had any obvious screws loose, if that's what you mean - but then I'm not the most objective of observers when it comes to that, as you may recall."

"Yes, I do remember" Genzentaru said as he though back to the day before "But I trust your opinions on them." Looking thoughtful he said "I wonder what the eight division is like"

"Well, probably more than a collection of gadget-obsessed geeks," Asagao said confidently, thinking of a couple of the more ridiculous rumours he'd heard about the 8th Division. He rather doubted they kept hundreds of Hollows prisoner as experimental subjects, for example.

"And they probably aren't psychos either" Genzentaru quipped remembering another rumor he had heard.

"There is that," Asagao agreed, finishing off his second bowl with as much relish as he had the first. "Mmmm, that was good."

Genzentaru dropped his chopsticks into his cleaned out bowl with a small 'ching' "It really was thank you again for treating me to this wonderful meal"

"Think nothing of it," Asagao replied expansively. He looked at the rest of the resteraunt and noticed that the other tables were filling up, suggesting that the time was approaching the dinner rush, in which case the table would probably be in demand. "Must be getting later, might be time to head back."

"Ya I don't want to get into any trouble" Genzentaru said as he pushed himself off the floor. Walking off the mat he slipped on his sandals.

Asagao lifted his zanpakutou from the table and thrust it through his sash into its accustomed position, then dropped a few small coins on the table as a tip for their waitress and help up his fist, thumb sticking up in appreciation for her services, before he followed Genzentaru, ducking out of the door with one last overacted leer at her. The day had chilled significantly since they had entered the resteraunt and he adjusted his sleeves, tucking each hand inside the obvious cuff and holding them against his chest.

Genzentaru walked through the cool night air beside Asagao. He was feeling good, he had come out of his protective shell and his emotions had died down. It seemed he was at peace and was able to finally achieve all the rest of the goals in his 'life' that he would never have been able to before due to his struggle for redemption.

Asagao, for his part, remained firmly rooted in the present, watching the streets of Rukongai and those who travelled them with an apparently idle eye as he turned towards Seireitei once again. His stomach full and his body weary, he let his mind focus upon the surroundings, content for the moment to simply accept his place in the Soul Society, without letting that watchfulness cast darkness upon his disposition.

.oOo.

For some people, sleep is a matter of peaceful repose. Chousen Asagao, to pick a somewhat less than random example, tended to sleep like a log, albeit a log that sounded remarkably like a rusty chainsaw. Sadly, this did tend to impact on everybody else's ability to sleep but it certainly didn't bother him.

Tonight, however, curled upon a futon, blanket wrapped around him, he was not sleeping as well as he usually did. The previous night, his first in the barracks of the 11th Division, he had been almost exhausted and fallen asleep within moments of his head hitting the pillow. But now, although his blond hair had been brushed up above his head on the pillow (which would lead to some truly spectacular bed head by the morning) and his blue eyes were closed, he remained fully conscious.

The reasons for this were fairly simple. Earlier that night he'd gone to sleep, just as usual. What had not been normal however, had been his dreams. He was well aware that it was perfectly normal to dream but he rarely remembered his for any appreciable time after waking, and they tended not to be particularly vivid in any event. Tonight had been the exception and he shuddered as the thought back to them.

Asagao had rolled over, loosening his blankets. In his dreams a little girl with bright pink hair and dressed like a Shinigami had been forcing an older boy, silver-haired and in the robes of a Division Captain to play with plushies that were also dressed as Shinigami - captains and vice captains, although no one Asagao recognised. The 'play' seemed to involve one of the plushies getting decapitated and second had been disembowelled, much to the delight of the little girl.

Meh. Now lying on his back, Asagao had begun to snore. Loudly. The little girl was now riding on the back of a tall, fierce looking man that looked almost like some one from the history books back at the Spirit Academy as he run through the gates of Seireitei. The man had run around a corner and a pack of what looked like Shinigami who were surrounding someone scattered before him, obviously terrified. The little girl had jumped off and approached to the victim, a small and sickly looking Shinigami who wasn't carrying a Zanpakutou, then slapped a label on him. The sticker had read: 'Can't hold me down, beeyotch'. In the dream, Asagao had laughed at the sight, which had added a snorting quality to his snores in the real world.

Ninety-nine red balloons swept past the scene and Asagao hadn't paused to wonder why he knew their number before he caught the string of the last balloon and was swept up into the sky. Looking down, the girl had been visible, riding around in circles on a quadrupedal Hollow as if it were a pet pony. Judging by the pained look on the Hollow's white mask, its death would have been a mercy killing.

As the balloon swept further him upwards, Asagao had blinked in surprise at the sight of a man with long red hair and black facial tattoos jumping from rooftop to rooftop across central Seireitei. The man was wearing black-rimmed spectacles, silvery hair curlers and a pink floral kimono. He also appeared to be singing. Asagao had shuddered and rolled over.

Dropping from the balloon, he'd plunged down towards the city that was spread out beneath him. After a moment of falling he spotted the hair curlers again, although fortunately he did not see the same idiot wearing them. Instead they were in the air of a bored looking Captain of the Gotei-13. The dignity of the Captain was a little undermined by the gaggle of ducklings that were following him and the tray of scorched looking cookies that he was carrying.

From there, the dream went from bizarre to downright strange. He saw the fierce looking man (who seemed to have bells in his hair now that Asagao got a closer look) pat a young woman on the head and tell her that she was cute - it was hard to say which of them was more horrified by the act. Then a motherly-looking Shinigami with long braids stabbed the young woman through the back with a gigantic syringe. A bald-headed Shinigami ran past, screaming, as the pink haired girl chewed upon his head, sending blood running down his face. She jumped off of her victim and suddenly was bouncing up and down on the titanic bosom of an orange-haired Shinigami while the silver-haired kid from before looked on and smirked.

While Asagao had been distracted by these antics, a small dog had run up and peed on the fierce man's leg. The man knelt down and snarled down at the dog, who looked unimpressed, then yawned and yipped up at the man, who sighed and picked him up. The red-haired man ran up, fortunately clothed less strangely in a Shinigami uniform and with his hair in a spiky ponytail not unlike Asagao's rather than hair curlers. He laughed at the fierce Shinigami holding the dog and then had to flee ahead of the man's zanpakutou. As the fierce man left in hot pursuit, the pink-haired girl leapt onto his back, peeking over one shoulder as the dog was deposited on the other.

Asagao blinked at that, unconsciously reaching up in the real world to check that his own hair had not acquired hair curlers all of a sudden.

Then the fierce man came back, alone, waving his sword wildly in pursuit of a cockroach the size of Asagao's entire hand. Unfortunately he kept missing. Then a large man with the head of a fox (or possibly an anthromorphic fox, it was hard to tell under the massive Shinigami robes he wore) joined in, followed by the redhead, captain hair curlers, silver hair, pink hair, big bosom...

And the cockroach ran past Asagao, leaving him to get stomped over by every single one of them.

He awoke with a start, heart pounding as he threw back the blankets with a startled cry. "Yah!" Realising where he was, he relaxed slightly and drew up his legs, rubbing at his forehead with one hand, unsurprised that he found it to be sweaty.

And now he lay there, subconscious protesting at the thought of going back to that dream, cursing his imagination for coming up with such a weird nightmare.

.oOo.

Asagao was working up a light sweat as he jogged through the streets of Seireitei with a bag of papers to deliver to the Division HQ. It was late in the morning, but he'd started at the chores that fell naturally upon the most junior member of the Eleventh Division well before dawn so this was the last thing that he had to do today.

"Asagao hey" Genzentaru called in greeting as Asagao ran by him.

Asagao slowed as he heard his name, then turned and, spotting Genzentaru, ran back towards the other Shinigami. "Hi," he said, a little breathless from the run. He shifted the satchel of reports to sit more comfortably against his hip.

"Looks like you are getting your fair share of work around here" Genzentaru said with a strange tone of voice, it sounded like he had something to share.

"Well, I guess I'm the low man in the Division for a the minute," Asagao admitted amicably, his breath quickly returning to normal. "How are you doing?"

"I've gotten my first assignment, it starts tomorrow" Genzentaru said "Someone most have recomended saw me training or something, its a patrol on earth"

"On Earth?" Asagao replied, surprised. He'd hoped for an assignment in that direction himself, but none had been forthcoming. Perhaps that made sense – he was entirely unfamiliar with the mortal world, having not even visited in training at the Academy. "Whoa - that's... that's amazing. Good for you!" he said heartily. "I'd like a piece of that action myself."

"Want to spar? Lets see if I deserve this responsibility" Genzentaru said implying in his light smile that he didn't think Asagao could take him on.

Asagao rolled his eyes in resonse to the smile, but his own lips quirked into a similar expression. "Somebody's confident," he said in an amused voice. "Okay - but I've got to get these to HQ, so why don't we use a dojo there?"

"Alright fine with me" Genzentaru said as he followed Asagao.

They quickly reached the area occupied by the Eleventh Division and Asagao handed over his cargo to a clerk before escaping without being assigned any additional duties for the day.

Not far from the offices a number of small dojos stood in a quiet corner and Asagao opened the door to one of them. It was a fairly standard dojo – wooden outer walls broken occasionally by screens that could be slid aside to admit more light if needed, soft mats on the floor and a rack on the wall that held two dozen wooden practise blades. "This okay for you?" he asked, a note of challenge in his voice.

"Its fine for me, I'm just worried what will happen when you get thrown through the wall" Genzentaru jokingly threatened, he didn't mean Asagao any harm, but he believed that he could do this. His talks with Asagao and his subsequent assignement had raised his self esteem considerably for the time.

Asagao threw back his head and laughed out loud. _Well now, he's certainly got high expectations. I'd better not underestimate him._ "Well, since I'm the one of us in the Eleventh Division, I suppose I'll have to fix the wall," he says. "If one of us were to go through it."

"Thank you" Genzentaru said as he took the sword "Kidou allowed? I don't have anything to destructive in mind" Genzentaru asked.

Asagao nodded, concealing a private grin. _Somehow I don't think he expects me to take advantage of that._ Over the last week, Asagao had been dealing with his sleeping difficulties by going through some kidou texts. Not only did they put him to sleep again, however short a span he actually slumbered, but studying on his own had actually worked out better than the classes had and he'd picked up a few useful spells. "Fair enough," he said out loud, lifting up an identical weapon from the same rack and moving out across the dojo floor until he was stood several yards from Genzentaru. "We can start whenever you're ready."

"Ok let's start" Genzentaru said as he slowly circled Asagao bringing the hilt his practice sword up near his face and the blade pointing forward.

Asagao rolled his neck to stretch those muscles and turned slowly, sandals gliding over the polished floor as he kept himself facing Genzentaru, sword held in a one-handed low guard position. He refrained from attacking, wanting to see how the other Shinigami moved beofre commiting himself to a course of action.

_Looks like we are each waiting for the other to strike_ Genzentaru thought then came to a decision. Rushing forward he swung his sword down in a clockwise arc towards Asagao's knee cap

Asagao nodded his head and brought his own sword around to block the strike by forcing it down into the floormats. He hopped nimbly over the sword as it struck the floor and brought his weapon up above his opponent's in an upwards cut aimed at Genzentaru's right arm – hoping for a disabling hit upon the taller Shinigami's sword arm.

Genzentaru barely brought his sword up in time to block Asagao's strike. The force from the blow pushed him backwards causing him to stumble. Regaining his balance quickly he jumped backwards attempting to distance himself from Asagao

Bounding forwards Asagao pressed his advantage and maintained the pressure, using one handed strikes from every quarter to drive Genzentaru back and keep the younger Shingiami off balance. He had the inititiative and intended to draw every possible advantage from it.

Genzentaru blocked one of these strikes but instead of resisting the force he flowed with it spinning him around so he faced Asagao's back. Holding his sword defensively in his left hand as he traced a design through the air leaving a red light in his fingers path and shouting "Desintagrate, Black Dog of Rondanini. Look upon yourself and burn! Devour your own throat! Bakudou #9 - GEKI!"

Asagao's eyes widened as he heard the beginning of the incantation. _Crap, a binding kidou - can't afford to be hit by that one,_ he thought, knowing he had neither the expertise nor the raw strength to break free should he be ensnared. The initiative had shifted in a heartbeat and now he was on the defensive. As fast as he could, he plunged his wooden sword at Genzentaru's hands as they described the ideogram, hoping to disrupt the pattern being traced and thus weaken or negate the kidou.

The sword hit Genzentaru's hand knocking them down as he completed the last traces of his spell. It interrupted it causing the spell to be much weaker then normal but it was cast. Genzentaru ignored the pain in his hand as he brought it down to his sword tyring to concentrate on maintaining the now weak spell.

Asagao shouted in pain as the kidou struck him, twisting savagely at his limbs even as recognition that he had not entirely succeeded in his goals. But the force of the spell was less than it could have been he realised and as he tumbled to the floor, losing his grip upon his sword, he fought back against the weakened bindings, unleashing his full spiritual pressure against them. He had to break free them before Genzentaru could reinforce the spell, or the duel was lost.

The spell snapped and ended causing Genzentaru to flinch momentarily thrown back allowing a few seconds for Asagao to recover. Rushing forward as he gathered himself Genzentaru swung his sword down upon Asagao.

Released, Asagao rolled to one side and avoided the sword strike at the last minute. Reflexively, he kicked out at Genzentaru's legs with one foot as his own hand reached out and latched onto the hilt of his sword.

Asagao kicked Genzentaru's legs out from under him forcing him to fall down with his back against the mat.

Sword now back in his hand, Asagao kipped up to his feet and instantly leapt to one side in case Genzentaru used his own trick against him, then charged towards Genzentaru's head and shoulders, sword reaching downwards to target the other Shinigami's weapon.

The blow struck Genzentaru's sword just as he was rising up and it sent him backwards. Inspiriration striking him as his body turned towards the ground he yelled out slamming his hands against the floor at the end of his fall "Heart of stone, body of steel. Gift of creation, specialty of man. Come together and make me whole, Bougyoudo #29, Iron Man."

Asagao snorted as he saw the other man fall, but chose not to interfere with the kidou, instead directing stinging blows towards Genzentaru's lower legs - aiming to impede the mobility of his foe once he rose again.

Genzentaru's mobibility was impeded but much by the blow from Asagao's sword. Iron flowed up over his body encircling him and protecting him some. _I need to end this quickly, I can't stand this for long long and I will probably be too tired to do much after it ends_ Genzentaru thought as he rised and turned towards Asagao his skin covered in a shining metal.

Asagao barely hesitated in his barrage of attacks, circling the other shinigami swiftly to avoid any counterattack, his weapon relentlessly seeking for weaknesses in the arcane protection. Fast as any rattlesnake he spun to one side and went after the back of Genzentaru's knees with a flurry of blows before he turned what looked like another downwards cut into a thrust at his opponent's left armpit.

The blows were starting to take their toll even through this armor, it was slowing him down too much. Knowing he had too finish it Genzentaru did something unexpected. Instead of blocking the sword as many others would have done Genzentaru grabbed it in his hands and pulled inwards attempting to enter a grapple with Asagao, which he would probaly win with his armor.

Asagao's eyes widened as he saw Genzentaru turn the threat into an opportunity. _He thinks quickly,_ he thought, and released the weapon rather than be dragged into a cinch. "Remove me from sight," he snapped, aiming the palm of his left hand at Genzentaru and backpedalling to avoid a follow up. "Blind their eyes. Do not allow this foe to hit their mark. Bougyoudo #3, Blue Mist."

Genzentaru stumbled forward off balance from the sudden release of the weapon. Hearing Asagao say his incantation he could only think before getting hit by it _Dammit, this will be bad_. As the blue mist blinded him he regained his balance and blindly jumped forward to where he had last seen his opponent.

Asagao dashed back and to one side as the cloud of mist forming around Genzentaru moved forwards, indicating that his opponent was reacting in the only rational way - closing as fast as he could. Fleetfooted, the blond shinigami reached the wall in the time it took his heart to beat three times and plucked a replacement practise sword from the rack there before turning to see the kidou's masking effects begin to dissipate.

As the blue mist cleared from his vision so did the metal dissolve off his skin. Genzentaru slowly picked up his sword off the ground as he turned towards Asagao watching him warily. This fight would soon be coming to a close one way or another, he was running low on energy.

Asagao directed a respectful nod towards Genzentaru and raised his new sword, advancing steadily across the dojo mats towards his opponent, the tip of the sword describing small, menacing circles between their faces.

Genzentaru jumped into the range of Asagao's sword and past it ignoring the danger of any incoming strikes as he brought his sword sideways hoping to catch against his ribs on his undefended side.

Asagao brought his sword down and intercepted the attack easily, only to find that holding it back the attack was far less simple - he found that he had to side step rapidly to keep Genzentaru from pushing through the block with sheer strength. Stepping back to let the attack pass him, he swept his own blade around, feinted at Genzentaru's face and lashed down suddenly with his sword, striking firmly at the other swordsman's right wrist.

The strike hit Genzentaru's wrist forcing it open so that he dropped his sword. Breathing heavily he said "Guess I was wrong, I couldn't knock you through a wall. You won"

Asagao lowered his sword to mark his acceptance and then raised it again in salute. "I wasn't close to putting you through one either," he pointed out magnaminously as he dropped the formal response. "You did well - a little faster with that Binding and the fight would have been over almost before it began."

"True" Genzentaru accepted. Looking around at the dojo he said "At least we didn't mess anything up that we can't fix in a few seconds". Genzentaru bent down and picked up his practice sword and put in on the rack.

Asagao retrieved the weapon he'd abandoned a moment or two before. "That's true - I'll have to try harder, a little carpentry is honest work that never hurt anyone." He walked over to the rack himself and replaced both weapons. "I think any Hollows you run into will have something to worry about," he added reassuringly.

"If I run into any at all" Genzentaru said "My patrol is only for a day". Leaning down he straightened out the mats they had moved during their bout.

With a nod Asagao ran his thumb along the edge of one of the practise swords, looking for damage to it. Fortuantely, there was nothing there but the minor pitting that had to be expected when polished wood pounded against polished wood repeatedly. "There is that. Still, patrols there will probably be in the more active areas so you've a good chance of some action." He grinned boyishly, eyes sparkling. "And it's not so long since you were down there, alive, is it? Maybe you can visit some old haunts, eh?"

"Maybe, the city I was assigned to was where I grew up and lived my life" Genzentaru said with a thin smile on his face _I wonder if the resturaunt is still there..._ he thought. "If we ever can work out getting a patrol together ill show you a computer."

"I look forward to it," Asagao asserted honestly. With a laugh of sheer delight, he gestured towards the door and offered: "So, shall we go see what can be done about those bruises of yours?"

"No its fine, I'll get it treated later. I still have some things to do to prepare for my patrol" Genzentaru said declining. "Let's do this again sometime" Genzentaru said as he looked towards the future.

"Absolutely," Asagao agreed enthusiastically and stepped out the door, into the sunlight. He stretched his arms to their full extent and sighed, enjoying the warmth on his face and the sweet taste of victory in his heart. "That sounds like a splendid idea!"

.oOo.

Asagao stared down at the young woman, who was up to her knees in the canal. Judging by the way her clothes were hanging, she'd been a great deal more than just knee deep in it at some point in the last few minutes. She was quite short, and from his position perched on the railings, it was hard to tell much about her features.

"excuse me?" she almost whispered. Asagao looked down at her, expressionless, then tilted his head to one side inquisitively as he processed her words.

"Excuse me?" she said, ever so slightly louder, apparently not considering this to be sufficient response.

Asagao blinked down at her, then rolled his eyes. "Hn!"

The woman almost jumped out of her skin, glancing around in a panic until she realised that it was Asagao who'd grunted. Then, in embarrassment, she focused upon the toes of one foot, which she began to circle against a stone on the bed of the canal. Asagao buried his face in his palm, trying to remember when he'd last met anyone that retiring. He was having real trouble with that one.

"excuse me?" she whispered again.

Asagao groaned. _Here we go again._ he thought. "Good afternoon," he said in a bright and cheery tone. "How can I help you?"

"I-I'm a little lost," the girl said, sneaking a look up at him through her bangs.

_And? Do I look like a signpost?_ he thought. "Well, where are you trying to get to," he said patiently. _And how do you think the canal will get you there?_

"I-I thought I was in T-Taipei," she stammered.

_Oy vey,_ the shinigami thought. _Did __**you**__ ever take a wrong turn someplace, Missy._ "Well, I think it's safe to say that you aren't there now," he said out loud. "When was the last time that you were sure about where you were?"

She hesitated. "W-we were in the car. Someone p-pulled out in f-front of us, my aunt braked sharply... t-then I was in the canal." She gestured about herself to demonstrate the canal's presence. "Was there a crash?"

"I think it's safe to guess that," Asagao said slowly, working through her explanation in his mind.

"So do you know where I am," she asked hopefully.

"Well... yes," he admitted.

"Can you help me to get back to Taipei? My aunt will be worried."

"Well, there's a little problem with that..." Asagao said slowly.

She glared up at him and then flinched, for no reason that Asagao could detect, as their eyes met. She went back to examining her feet.

With a sigh, the man dropped down from the railings and landed in the water with a splash. Startled, the girl looked up at him.

"You're in Rukongai," Asagao said flatly. "Which means there's very little chance of you going back to Taipei - and the odds are at least even that your aunt won't be there if you do return."

"W-why?" she squeaked.

"Because you're dead," he said frankly. "Welcome to -"

He broke off his intended 'welcome to the Soul Society', since there was no point in his continuing; the girl had fainted and he had to rush forwards to keep her from falling face first into the water and probably drowning. In all of eighteen inches of water. _Some people shouldn't be allowed out on their own,_ he complained to the recesses of his mind. Unsurprisingly, he received no response.

With a sigh Asagao lifted her out of the water and threw her over his shoulder before leaping up and out of the water, and onto the path that ran along the side of the canal. From the squeak she made as they landed, she must have woken up in mid-air.

Turning around, Asagao lifted the girl off of his shoulder before she could start to struggle and set her down on the street. "Now that we're awake," he said dryly. "Would you like me to continue my - ow," he finished as she smacked him on the chest, not that he was hurt by the clumsy strike, but he was a little surprised by it. "What was that for?" he asked.

"That wasn't funny," she snapped, the effect of her anger somewhat spoiled by the fact she looked like she was about to burst into tears. "I'm worrying about my aunt, and you're making stupid jokes!"

"Jokes?" Asagao said, scratching at the side of his head with a puzzled look on his face. "What jokes?"

"Saying that I'm dead!" she complained.

"Well, I'm sorry," he said mildly. "But it happens to the case. You are dead. This is the afterlife. I should know - I've been her quite a while."

"B-but," she whimpered, looking at his face and not noting the slightest false note. "I can't be dead! My aunt will be frantic."

Asagao shrugged. "There's really not much I can do about that. Even if she's dead and if she winds up in Rukongai, the chances are very high that you won't find her - there are millions of souls in Rukongai and there's not any way of know where she might be."

The girl's eyes blinked, tears forming at their corners and then she lunged forward and buried her face in Asagao's chest, pounding her little fists against him. It really didn't accomplish anything although her tears were making his kimono quite wet. He wished she'd not do that - it was bad enough that his feet were wet.

"I get the feeling I'm not doing too well at this," he muttered out loud. "Look... do you have a name?"

She sniffed back her tears and whispered: "osaku. Kiryu Osaku."

"Well then, Osaku," Asagao said heartily. "I am Chousen Asagao, Shinigami of the Eleventh Division of the Gotei-13. And I am at your service." He saw Osaku look up, distracted from her grief by his extravagant introduction. "Which means I'll take you to see a friend of mine, who'll fix you up." _Itame __**did**__ mention he could do with another waitress,_ he thought virtuously. _And I don't think I'd be the best person to help her fit into Rukongai - I never did, after all!_

.oOo.

Asagao scratched at his chin as he led Osaku through the streets of Rukongai. The looks that he - to be more precise, his Shinigami uniform - were getting bothered him. There was a hostility that he had not previously faced: children were being shuffled away from his path, conversations died down as he approached only to be reborn once he was past.

_Damn the Keigun,_ he thought and then shook his head. _No - no use blaming them. Even if they were responsible for triggering the troubles, which I can't be sure of, this has been building for a long time._

He'd not really expected to wind up dealing with a new arrival to the Soul Society when he wandered out of Seireitei that afternoon. He'd been at a loose end after sparring with Genzentaru and much as he wanted to sleep, he just felt... well, energetic wasn't the word – in fact, his ass was dragging profoundly - but there was something worrying at him, not quite that he'd forgotten something, more that there was something happening that he should pay attention to but couldn't quite put his finger on. And with that preying on his mind, he knew that he wouldn't get any sleep.

He hadn't gotten all that much sleep since joining the Eleventh Division, in fact, a matter than concerned him more than a little. It wasn't that he felt unwelcome there, much the reverse, but his dreams had been disturbed of late and he was snatching sleep in short periods before being awoken by them again. Since the first night, there had been something different in them

So, instead he had set out to do what he generally did when he had something to think through: he took a walk. Something about walking aimlessly let his mind disassociate from what he was doing and spin freely, making connections and coming up with solutions and ideas that he wouldn't usually come up with. And the fact that no one really apys attention to a stranger walking by let him mumble freely to himself, worrying at whatever his mind threw up without having to concern himself with prospective embarassment of friends and acquaintances hearing him discussing Hollow ponies or malevolent red ballons or whatever other bizarre sidethoughts he might be channeling as he did this.

Leaving Seireitei had been a matter of instinct, his feet took him along a familiar route and almost before he knew it, he was walking along the unpaved streets, head in the clouds. He had no recollection of being challenged at the gates by the guards, but then he'd been in and out more than a few times in the last few weeks and they probably assumed that he was going out on business – he was in uniform after all.

The last thing he had expected or wanted was to look down off a bridge he was corssing and see a small figure wading in the canal, obviously out of place.

However, even if it wasn't currently the custom, Asagao was not in the habit of walking away from a soul newly come to the Soul Society. In the days after the Great Hollow War, such matters hadn't been as organised as they were currently and in was generally accepted that whoever first met the newcomer had the responsibility of finding them a family or some sort of niche or of at least supporting them to a degree until they got their feet under them.

So rather than directing Kiryu Osaku to a community center where one of the highly experienced counselors there would take on the girl's case and arrange an adoption into one of the local families with an opening for a young woman of her approximate age - without in fact considering that course at all - Asagao was planning to take her to an old friend who had adopted more than one newcomer and by Asagao's standards done well by them.

Unfortunate that it hadn't done a thing about the annoying suspicion that he was missing something important, but that's karma for you - even when it's paying you back, it's rarely all good or all bad.

He said very little to the girl as they walked – identifying the odd landmark or two in response to her occasional questions about the places they passed and the customs of Rukongai. His thumbnail explanation fo the cosmology underlying the Soul Society seemed to confuse her, but then it had had much the same effect on examiners at the Spirit Academy, costing him a few marks in end of year exams.

Instead, he was still trying to focus on the same problem that had driven him to wander outside of the home of the Shinigami and doing his best not to be distracted by the unpleasant undercurrents that he was detecting around him, and in taking the measure of the young woman that he had taken under his wing.

She seemed to be a quiet sort, although that might be more due to shock, and a dedicated urbanite, with few of the practical skills that were the basis for day-to-day life in Rukongai. Probably reliant on 'conveniences' that weren't available to her here and would be a matter Asagao would be glad to avoid. Genzentaru's explanations of computers were bad enough, he didn't fancy trying to work out what a young woman felt she lacked from descriptions that would assume knowledge that he just didn't have.

"Why is is everyone looking at me like that?" Osaku whispered, shrinking against the blond Shinigami.

"They're not," Asagao replied softly. "They're looking at me. We Shinigami aren't too popular at the moment."

"Oh," she said - not greatly reassured by his answer.

"Don't worry, we've not got much further to go," Asagao offered comfortingly. They turned a corner and entered the shopping district. Itame's resterant was only two more streets away.

"Why are you unpopular?" Osaku asked nervously.

Asagao never had a chance to reply, a cold, bitter and familiar voice broke into their conversation. "Because of five dead men, wasn't it, Chousen Asagao?"

.oOo.

Asagao winced at the unwelcome voice and paused in mid-stride to turn his head towards the speaker. "Leodis," he acknowledged the lean and once beautiful woman who stood glaring at him, her tattered and travelstained clothing freshly muddy from the roads. It was no physical injury that had stripped Avana Leodis of her beauty. Hatred had done so as effectively as any scalpel could have.

He should know – he had stood as best man when Avana Chomei had been wed to the young beauty and had seen her face beautified by love to the point that no woman's tricks like make up could have added to the effect. And less than six months later he had seen the beginnings of the changes he now saw as he fled into the night away from the wrath of she and her kin.

There was a forced courtesy to the novice Shingiami's voice as he replied: "I believe that the young lady was asking about the Shinigami as a whole, not my own battered and tarnished reputation." He shifted to face Leodis squarely, arms crossed in front of him. His blond hair bristled, the ruddy light of the setting sun turning it coppery in hue.

"Perhaps the Shinigami would be better thought of if they weren't harbouring a murderer amongst their ranks," she proposed harshly to him and then turned her glare upon Osaku, damning her by association. "Did you know about your guide's bloody hands, girl?" Leodis spat. "Has he boasted to you of the good men he slew?"

If that accusation had been less than Asagao had expected of Leodis then he might have reeled under its weight. But he could not claim that it was unfamiliar to him and he handled the burden of reawakened memories of guilt stoicly, his face stony and unexpressive. She had said much the same, and worse, to him in past encounters. Out of the corner of his eyes he could see that the evening crowds of the shopping district were beginning to gather around the confrontation and muttering was spreading among them as new arrivals were told by those who had witnessed Leodis' accusation what had led to the scene developing in the middle of their shopping district.

_Damn,_ he cursed to himself. _This looks like it's going get nasty. Of all the lousy times and places to meet Leodis again._

The crowd alone night not have been too great a problem - he was not unknown in this district and might well have been able to disperse them by playing on that relationship, picking acquaintances out of the crowd and reminding them that he was not a faceless emissary of the Gotei-13, but for many of them a customer in good standing, and sometimes a friend. And if that failed, he was fast enough and skilled enough to escape from them - although while burdened with Osaku, he might well need to dissuade the leading elements of any pursuit forcefully.

Leodis was less of a threat physically - he could escape the woman easily, and even if his heart cried out against it, he knew that he could easily disable her to prevent pursuit. Though he had never managed to dissuade her from her desire for vengeance, he was armoured against the emotional impact of her accusations. The wounds she inflicted could be tended to at another time.

But combine Leodis and the crowd... candles and fireworks are entirely harmless unless brought together. Should Leodis ignite the crowd's passions, then lives would likely be lost. Not least amongst them his own and Osaku's. Certainly he was more skilled than any of them, or so he believed, but weight of numbers could take him down and he was outnumbered more than a hundred to one. He only hoped that diplomacy would be enough to deter such a circumstance.

"W-what is she talking about?" Otaku asked her self-appointed guide and protector nervously, realising how little she actually know of him.

Asagao looked at her thoughtfully for a moment, ordering his thoughts to give as clear and honest answer as he could. Leodis opened her mouth to give her own scathing condemnation of the Shinigami, but angry blue eyes levelled onto her own dark eyes and she paused, closing her lips.

The Asagao she had known had seemed gentle, perhaps the gentlest man that she had ever met and her anger at her own misjudgement of him had perhaps been as much a motive to her vengeful pursuit as had been grief at her own bereavement. But now, for the first time, the hate that flowed through her at the sight of him was eclipsed by another emotion. Fear.

I killed them? the eyes seemed to ask. Then should you not be more cautious in pursuit, for surely I cannot be damned any further even should I slay you. This, she realised, was not the man who had suffered visibly in the face of her venomous words, who had fled before the wrath of her neighbours and family. In the years since then, Asagao had changed. Or perhaps this was what she had failed to see before. What had killed her family. The man before her, Chousen Asagao, was _dangerous_.

"We knew each other before I began training to become a Shinigami," Asagao said finally. "She blames me for the death of her husband and several of our mutual friends."

"You murdered them!" Leodis shrieked, the sudden fear submerged by her older and more potent rage. "You murdered my husband!" She stepped forward threateningly and the crowd, who now numbered more than a hundred, followed her.

Asagao dismissed the notion of denying the charge - it wouldn't deter what had gone from an interested crowd to a mob and was right on the verge of becoming a full-fledged riot. _What can I do?_ he asked himself, taking a defensive hakudo stance. Osaku pressed against his back, trapped by the ring of angry faces, more afraid of them that she was of him, alleged murderer or not. _I don't wish to spill their blood - but the alternative is almost certainly Kiryu Osaku's death!_

.oOo.

"Kill the Shinigami!" cried out an agitator. Asagao noted bitterly that the cowardly piece of shit was too far back in the Mob to be exposed to the bloodbath that he was trying to unleash. "Kill the murderer!"

The front ranks tried to close in cautiously as the call was taken up by bolder members of the mob, but the pressure from the ranks behind was forcing them forwards faster and faster, whatever their desires. They at least realised that deed would be easier said than done and that it was their precious blood that would be the price.

"I've no wish to harm you," Asagao warned, his voice rising to a stenorian bellow to carry over the shouted threats. "But I will defend –"

Pushed forwards, a younger man lunged at Asagao with a desperate expression on his face. The Shinigami began to draw his zanpakutou.

The moment that Asagao's hand made contact with the weapon's hilt, everything froze around him. The mob were locked in mid-bay for his blood, Osaku's trembling against his back was stilled. Another imprecation was on Leodis' lips as she herself was carried forward by the advance, but she did not voice it or take another step. Asagao tried to blink in surprise but his eyelids would not move… _he_ could not move, as pinned into place as any of the tableau.

Rukongai was quiet and still around them.

From behind Asagao came the tinkle of bells. He heard movement as someone moved through the crowd and he could feel the prescence of a spirit behind him. At first he found it to be unfamiliar, but then a sense of recognition came to him.

This was what he had sensed about him, the elusive factor that had haunted him for days and most especially for nights now. "You pick your moments," he whispered wrily, reluctant to disturb the eerie silence that surrounded him. He could not feel his lips move but he was not surprised to find the words were audible nonetheless.

"This moment is all that we have," came a feminine voice from behind him that was as heartbreakingly clear as the cut glass of a crystal goblet.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"You have heard my voice," she answered. "In your dreams and past the cacophony of your waking life you have heard my song. But have you understood me, Chousen Asagao? In the depths of your heart, do you _know_ me?"

Comprehension rushed through him like the a sudden tide. His training had only touched upon Shi Kai, for the experience was unique to each Shinigami. However, ther was one common thread: to achive it a Shinigami must hear the name of his or her zanpakutou.

He knew her.

"I know you," he agreed, recollection returning to him of the prescence of her voice in his dreams, night after night, her voice tugging at his heartstrings as he had sought her in strange cities and weird landscapes populatd by characters of nightmare and of wonder.

"In the depths of your heart," she said coolly, "you lack the commitment to struggle. Even when your spirit was being crushed by the one named Joaquin, it was not your will to live or to fight that roused you."

Asagao said nothing in reply. How could he? It was true. He'd not fought back against that fearsome pressure for the sake of his life. He had done so simply because it had been asked of him, and perhaps because passing the test would set him on a road that could destroy him.

"But for another?" she asked, leaning closer, so that he could smell the sweet scent of jasmine from her hair. "As I might lend you my strength, you have lent yours to the cause of protecting this child?"

"Judge actions," he whispered. "Not words."

"And if we have only a moment, do not waste it?" she asked, mirroring the thoughts that went through his mind with uncanny accuracy. "Yes, Chousen Asagao, Asagao the chosen, I think we understand each other very well. Better than you know perhaps." She leant closer still, her sweet breath warm and alive against his ear, and whsipered, "Genzoyaibano."

And then all was noise and motion.

Asagao's completed the movement that it had begun a moment before. But rather than a draw cut that would have opened the young man attacking him from hip to shoulder, the zanpakutou was whipped upwards to brandish above the Shinigami's head, drawing every eye on the crowded street. As the blade passed Asagao's eyes he saw reflected in it two jade green eyes, set exotically in an ivory face framed by ebony locks of hair. It was a beautiful face and he knew that it could be seen only within the sword. Without a pause, the shinigami's left hand caught hold of the young man, flinging him back into the mob and winning Asagao a crucial moment.

"Genzoyaibano!" he cried out. "Seigun!"

There was a flash of light from all along the blade and Asagao –

- saw the mob, men and women joined into a mass of reckless hate and thoughtless savagery descending upon a helpless victim -

- felt fear of their inhumanity wash away rational response, layering additional horror upon the alien strangeness of Rukongai to one newly come to it and rudely awakened to the fact that human baseness transcended even death -

- sheltered behind a man who might be a murderer but was the only bulwark, frail as it was, against the terror that would sweep her away with no more concern for her than would the most savage of beasts –

- blinked his eyes, to see the light gone from Genzoyaibano's blade and the surging mob broken by the vision that had impacted upon their psyches.

There was no longer a mob, their collective ties of hatred and passion shattered by the reflection of them in the eyes of Osaku, who would have been their innocent victim as they vented their fears and hatreds upon Asagao. They were scarcely a crowd, simply an assembly of shame faced individuals, many of them brought to tears as the hammer blow of their culpability for the emotions they had experienced.

There was no possibility of doubting the vision. Even Leodis had been taken aback by it's impact and if hate still reigned behind her eyes, it was bridled by the realisation that this confrontation was done with and that there was no further satisfaction to be had from the man.

For his part, Asagao lowered his sword slowly and without ceremony returned Genzoyaibano to her scabbard. A certain tension was released from his shoulders as he did so, and he turned around, taking a shaking Osaku by the shoulders and then enfolding her in his arms, offering mute comfort as the sudden shift from danger to empathy threw the young woman into blind tears and helpless sobs.

.oOo.

Clouds were sweepng in to cover the setting sun and the cold wind had the promise of rain as it tugged at Asagao's sleeves. Much of the crowd had dispersed and those still on the street were tacitly ignoring the Shinigami and the girl crying herself to sleep in his arms.

Among those who had left was Leodis. Asagao had not witnessed her departure but when he looked up she was gone. _She'll be back. But sufficient unto that day…_ he thought.

Unfolding his cloak, he wrapped it around Osaku and scooped her up in his arms, hardly burdened by the weight of the small woman, to resume his journey. They had been close to Itame's resteraunt in any case and without having to slow his pace to match Osaku's, Asagao covered the distance at a ground-covering stride.

Usually the entrance was covered only with a curtain. But today Itame must have realised that there was trouble in the air, because the door was shuttered and locked. Asagao lowered Osaku's feet to the ground, still cradling her in his right arm as he thumped on the door with his left fist.

"We're closed," came a man's voice from within.

"I'm not a customer, Itame," Asagao hissed in reply, not wanting to draw undue attention. Or due attention for that matter. They had come far enough from the previous confrontation for another to form and one near-lynching would suffice for the day – by the thousand hells, it would suffice for the century if he could manage it!

There was a pause and then Asagao heard bolts drawing back and a shutter opened wide enough for one eye to peek through the gap. "Asagao!" Itame exclaimed. "Are you insane!"

"It's been suggested," the Shinigami answered – his face grim but his voice light. "Have you got room for a stray? She's new to Rukongai," he added, nodding down at Osaku to ensure no confusion over who he meant.

More shutters opened and Itame stepped out into the street, shorter and broader than his old friend. He was a tough faced man with a broken nose but there were hard muscles under the stained apron that he was wearing even though the resteraunt was closed. Asagao had never yet seen him without it. "We'll manage," he agreed, lifting Osaku out of Asagao's grip. Behind the cook, Asagao could see two waitresses watching them nervously through the door. "Do you want to come in and lay low until things settle down?" Itame offered.

Asagao shook his head. "I'll be alright," he said confidently. "I'm headed back to Seireitei anyway."

Itame shrugged. It was Asagao's risk to run and he supposed that as long as the younger man avoided conflicts he would have a good chance of reaching that sanctuary. Without further ado, he carried Osaku across the resteraunt threshold, letting the pair of waitresses fasten the shutters again.

The younger of the girls gave Asagao a worried look. "Are you sure you will be alright, Chousen-san?" she asked.

Asagao nodded his head and smiled at her – not one of his usual gleeful grins or overdone leers but a smile of understanding and of simple gratitude for the concern that she had expressed. "Yeah," he said reassuringly. "I'll be okay, Hsiu-chan."

Then the shutters were closed once more and the moment was over, leaving Asagao to turn around and cross the street, ducking into one of the same alleyways that he and Genzentaru had used the previous week when they had visited Itame for no more pressing purpose thatn a bite to eat. The dark outer robes of the Shinigami uniform should help him to blend into the shadows, he thought. And the narrow confines would prevent him from being overwhelmed by sheer numbers if trouble found him.

What he had not counted upon was being found by a small group as familiar, if not more so, than he was with the twists and turns of that particular part of the district. Normally the theives would not have trifled with a Shinigami – whatever their bravado about their chances were, they realised that vengeance would be swift and certain. This one was alone though, known to carry a fair purse of coins and under the current circumstances it was more than likely that his death would be ascribed to politics rather than avarice.

The first that Asagao knew of their presence was when two of the three men leapt down on him from an eave, long daggers flashing. The quarters were too tight and the ambush too well laid for him to draw Genzoyaibano. However, he had other options to chose from. Swaying out of the path of one assailant he took two minor cuts from the other before catching hold of the thief's arm and hurling him into the path of the other man's knife. The surprised footpad fell to the floor, a surprised look on his face and a knife hilt emerging from his chest.

With the other thief disarmed for the moment, Asagao fell on him like a thunderbolt, executing a three hit combination that spun the man headlong into a wall. There was a deadly crunch as the Shinigami followed up with a crushing blow to the back of the would-be murderer's head and crushed the unlucky man's skull against the wall.

Then Asagao hissed in pain as the third of the little band made his entrance, a short sword stabbing at his vitals. Twisting aside, he lashed out backwards with his elbow and folded the thief over before whirling, Genzoyaibano leaping from her scabbard in a drawcut that severed the last of the thieves's head from his neck.

For a moment, Asagao stood over the corpse, then he sighed and wiped Genzoyaibano clean before returning her to the saya at his side and slowly walked away, fatigue beginning to settle on him. _What a bloody day,_ he thought wearily, not realising that he was not yet to find the rest he expected.

.oOo.

Asagao's clothes were sodden from the rain when he crossed the broad avenue around Seireitei and entered the forbidden city of the Shinigami. He hadn't remembered to reclaim his cloak before leaving Itame's and the rain had caught him not long after he left the corpses of his three attackers in the alley.

He stifled a sneeze before greeting the guards and being allowed to enter Seireitei. _Yeesh, I hope this rain lets up or I'll be down with a fever tomorrow,_ he thought, gladly trading the dirt streets of Rukongai for Seireitei's paving, trailing muddy sandal prints behind him for the first hundred yards.

Diaz pulled the cloak he was wearing tighter around his body. The rain was really coming down today, and while it normally wouldn't bother him, his body was a bit sore already. _Why did I even come out here?_ Diaz wondered to himself as he heard a familiar voice greeting the guards at the entrance to Seireitei.

Diaz looked up, momentarily forgetting his grief and noticed his friend, Chousen Asagao, returning from another one of his missions. _He forgot his cloak? And... are those nicks from sword wounds? It could be, the crazy bastard joined the 11th..._

"Asagao! Yo, over here!" Diaz called out, rushing over to greet his friend. Upon closer examination, Asagao did have a few wounds. "You're wet and cut up! Here, take my cloak. We'll get into some cover and I'll patch you up, you can tell me what in the hell you've been doing?"

Asagao looked up as he heard his friend address him, his blond hair plastered against his head by the rain. "Wha - ?" he managed, then focused his attention on Diaz. "Cut up?" he asked in surprise, waving away the cloak since he could hardly get wetter, whereas the younger Shinigami might as well stay as dry as he could.

Looking down at himself he saw nicks and scrapes inflicted during his recent scuffle and blinked rapidly. "Damn, I hadn't noticed," he muttered, letting Diaz take control of the situation. Fatigue was beginning to creep up on him. Shingiami could go a long time without sleep but usually they needed to meditate to fend off the side-effects of doing so. His state of mind had denied him this and it would take at least a few hours of relative peace for the stress to fade away.

Diaz took the cloak back and ushered Asagao to the First Division headquarters quickly. He rummaged through his bags and pulled out some towels and tossed them to Asagao. "Dry yourself off, I'll handle your wounds now."

Diaz raised his right hand when he neared Asagao and murmured, "Return to the way you were... Be free of weakness... Expel your pain... Chiyudo #18, Tereiki!" Diaz's right hand began to dimly glow as he put it above the cuts that Asagao somehow managed to get. As they knit themselves back together, Diaz began working through the series of shallow sword wounds that Asagao managed to get.

"You must have fought a fast person, or multiple people, to get these." Diaz commented as he finished up. "You should be more careful, learn a Chiyudo or something...or is the mighty 11th Division too good for Chiyudo?" Diaz laughed to himself. "Anyways, where have you been?"

Asagao stripped to the waist and waited for Diaz to heal the wounds before towelling at himself. The action became more vigorous as he warmed up out of the rain. "I know a couple," he admitted. "But I've never been that adept, if you recall and I'd rather not try one when I'm this tired. Besides, I'd not noticed them until now."

"As for where I've been, I was out in Rukongai. I needed to get my head together - hadn't been sleeping too well. I probably should have known better," he admitted ruefully. "Wound up in a mess or two of trouble. I guess that these must have been picked up on the way back. A couple of guys jumped me in an alley, I never found out why they came after me."

Diaz nodded to Asagao. "Well, learning some might be of use. Teireiki and Meidan would be wise, if you have the time to practice them." Diaz stood up and turned to face Asagao when a seated officer approached the two of them.

"Chousen, Kokuei." A gruff voice addressed them sternly. "Good, you two seem to be in the right place at the right time. Kokuei, you are learning the healing arts, yes?" Diaz nodded to the officer. "Chousen Asagao of the 11th Division, there's been a rogue shinigami sighted in South Rukongai. He's around your strength, so be careful. Your mission is to kill him before he can gather a gang. Kokuei Diaz, you're to accompany Chousen and make sure he comes back alive. Do you both understand?!" Diaz nodded and saluted the seated officer. "Yes, sir!" and then turned to Asagao. "I guess we should be going, then?"

_No rest for the wicked,_ Asagao mused and saluted the officer before lifting his tunic again and shoving his arms through the sleeves. "Yeah," he agreed, heading for the door. "Let's go."

He glanced at Diaz as they walked. "Have you heard anything about this guy? I've been out of touch with the grapevine for the last couple of weeks."

Then Asagao winced as a thought struck him. If the powers that be knew where to find him for a mission then they probably also knew what had happened earlier. The 11th Division officers would probably have a few things to say about his being out in Rukongai with all the warnings that had been given.

Diaz seemed lost in thought, as he looked at the paper the officer had handed him. "No, but I can read this information to you, if you wish." Asagao prompted him to continue, so he did. "It says this: Miara Kanada went missing about three weeks ago, only to turn up a week later to slay five innocents in South Rukongai. That week, two shinigami were sent to capture him, but failed, resulting in their deaths. Miara Kanada is a Zanjutsu user, which is his specialty. However, he is known for applying poison to his sword, so any wound should be considered fatal." Diaz paused. _I can't cure poisons!_ "Adding my own comment in, I can't cure poisons. So don't get hit. It continues to say he's hiding in a district between 78 and 80. That's all it says."

Diaz and Asagao both waved as they passed the gates to South Rukongai. "I don't know if you have done it before, but we need to hide our pressure." Diaz commented as he began to hide his reitatsu. "I'm sure he's not foolish enough to hide in the highest district, but he's somewhere in 78-80. I think he's in 79." Diaz paused again. "Let's head there."

Asagao nodded his agreement. "Sounds like as good a starting point as any," he said. "And, fortunately, curing poisons is one Chiyudo that I _do_ know," he added with a slight grin, glancing around at the buildings of South Rukongai.

"I shouldn't have any trouble hiding my pressure," he added and his grin grew depreciating. "I still don't have all that much in the way of pressure to hide." Nonetheless his reitatsu slowly faded until he was scarcely distinguishable from an ordinary citizen of Rukongai, even at the short distance that Diaz was from him.

"Good enough?" he asked.

Diaz smirked right back at Asagao. "Good enough indeed." _He's getting better._ Diaz and Asagao worked their way through the districts quickly. Diaz couldn't help but notice that the first few districts were very happy to see shinigami walking through, but as they continued to go higher, the happy smiles turned to disinterested looks, and once they neared the 60s, they began to get angry looks, and once arriving at district 70, people began to shout and throw things at the pair of shinigami.

"You'd think they'd at least appreciate that we're here to kill a menace. The people in the upper numbered areas of Rukongai are always irritating." Diaz frowned at Asagao. "Look for any signs of abnormal spiritual pressure." Diaz began pushing his senses out. "I don't sense anyone stronger than they should be, he might be compressing his pressure. Let's continue to 79, be careful, at these high numbers, we may have more than just a rogue shinigami to deal with."

Diaz and Asagao finally arrived at district 79 of Southern Rukongai, only to be greeted by a group of ruffians. "We don't want no bloody shinigami here! Get out!" The leader spat at Diaz. Diaz frowned and stepped up, with a hand on his zapakutou to say something, when Asagao put his hand in front of him, indicating he'd handle the situation. Diaz nodded and stepped back.

Asagao looked at the ruffians measuringly. The journey had been no strain at all to him, and had in fact allowed him to gather his strength and his eye was keen as it swept across the band. "Rumour has it that there is already a Shinigami here," he said calmly. "A renegade who came out here to cause trouble far from our ability to restrain him. Once we've collected him, we'll leave. And then there will be no bloody Shinigami to get in your way."

The leader looked back at Asagao, eyes narrowed with suspicion. "We can take care of that bastard ourselves," he shot back. "Or any other Shinigami who come along for that matter."

Asagao's eyebrows rose. "Impressive," he murmured, in a tone that expressed his doubts as the accuracy of the assertion. A few of the ruffians looked about to charge at him in response to that. "I'd wager you don't even know where he is," he said in that same infuriating tone.

"Are you sure of that?" the man shot back, an interested look on his face. "Interesting word you used: wager. Care to put your money where your mouth is?"

Diaz stepped up this time, walking even with Asagao. "You don't want to do that, hooligan." Diaz grinned annoyingly at the man. "Stand down, or I won't be responsible for his actions." Diaz glanced to Asagao. "That's it!" The ruffian screamed at them. "Get them!" He ordered his men to attack Diaz and Asagao.

Diaz stepped forward into the attack of the man coming from his right, unsheathing his katana hilt first, smashing it into the man's nose, breaking it. Diaz continued to draw his katana and hit the man on the back of the head with the hilt, knocking him unconscious and to the floor. He then evaded the second attack, and smacked the second man with the back of his blade, dropping him to the floor.

Diaz glanced to the side, watching Asagao's movements, just in time to see the leader drawing a sword. Diaz quickly dropped his sword tip first, so it would stick into the ground and raised his left hand, calling out his spell. "Cover my enemy in his sin, so that he may know the pain he has caused to others. Let this sin consume him, Bakudou #12, Tragic Kingdom!" and a beam of light shot from his left hand, and ripping the beam back with his right hand as it struck the man, covering him in a chalky white substance with seven red dots that began to release a dark, waxy goop all over the man, which bound him. Diaz walked to the man, picking up his zanpakutou and put it over his shoulder, and smirked at him. Diaz dropped a few coins at the man's feet. "There's my money." He turned to Asagao. "You got your side wrapped up?

The ruffians looked at Diaz, wondering why he was directing his question at them, not at the other Shinigami. Then they realised that Asagao was not where he had been standing when their leader ordered the attack. The more perceptive of them turned his head to see Asagao standing behind them, sliding his zanpakutou back into it's saya. Then the thug had to clutch at his clothes as his belt fell to the floor, neatly severed into two separate parts. There was a wave of yelps of surprise among the rest of the group as they realised that they were in the same conditions.

"I'd say so," Asagao said, his smile so slight that it was hidden entirely by his beard. "How about we raise the stakes on that wager, kids," he asked the stunned group. "Unless you think you can fight me with your privates flapping in the breeze, I'd say that I'm holding your lives in the palm of my hand. I'll stake those lives on you not knowing where we can find Miara Kanada. Which means that you're staking your lives on knowing that. So," he added, lips peeling back from his eye-teeth and his hand still lightly wrapped around the hilt of Genzoyaibano, "Which of us is right?"

Five minutes later the Shinigami were walking towards the last reported sighting of the renegade, Asagao flipping Diaz his coins back one at a time. "You see how it is," he said dryly. "You just need to know how to talk to people and they're almost always glad to help you."

Diaz laughed to Asagao as he caught the coins and returned them to the pouch them came from. "Maybe they're just a little shy, and need some encouragement." Diaz chuckled to himself as he looked around as they neared the edge of the town. A small, rickety hut stood there, the ground outside it stained bright red with blood.

Diaz neared the large bloodstain and put his hand to the darker spot. "It's dry here, however,,," He stood up and moved forward to a darker, second spot of the bloodstain and touched it with his finger. "Prepare yourself, Asagao. This blood is fresh." Diaz stood up and drew his zanpakutou completely.

"Is it a trap? No, it couldn't be. He wouldn't be foolish enough to leave wet blood here if he were trying to ambush us." Diaz sheathed his sword and began to examine the ground for foot prints or other markings. Finding what he was looking for, Diaz stood up and turned to Asagao. "He slew two men here, and the bodies were moved that way." Diaz pointed further south, outside of town. "If we follow the trail, we should find out killer."

"Let's not underestimate him," Asagao replied, drawing Genzoyaibano. "For all we know he's expecting someone else entirely to be in hot pursuit. And from what I recall there are a few very good ambush sites out there."

Vaulting up onto the roof of the shack, he balanced precariously upon the structure, which swayed alarmingly under his weight, and looked south. "Can't see him," the blond man reported once he was back on the ground. "Still, he's probably feeling pretty confident if he's killed two Shinigami already. There's a pretty good chance he'll fight if he knows we're here. Maybe we should lay our own trap."

"If one of us lets our pressure be detected, there's a good chance he'll come to use, wanting to score another Shinigami. Neither of us is particularly strong in that, and if he comes at us expecting one Shinigami typical that level, we'll have the advantage of surprise."

"Yes, its dangerous out here. I don't know much about the area in this side of Rukongai, but most are dangerous right out side of the town." Diaz thought to himself. "Let us move out of town into an area where we can hide. You raise your reitatsu just enough to make him think there's a low level shinigami. I'll bind him." Asagao nodded to Diaz, and the two went out into a clearing just outside of the town. Diaz moved to the side, hiding in the trees and compressing his reitatsu completely.

"I'm ready whenever you are, Asagao." Diaz called before becoming completely silent.

Asagao stretched for a moment and then let his reitatsu slip slowly, and carelessly. from it's restraint. Acting as if oblivious to the fact that he was radiantly obvious to anyone with the least sensitivity to spirit pressures, he gathered a few sticks of wood and knelt in the middle of the clearing to begin laying a small fire there.

He was knelt over the fire, one hand occupied by a lighted match when he saw a flicker of shadow across the small heap of deadwood. His fingers loosened enough for the match to land in the pile, setting it alight, as he rolled aside and out of the path of the zanpakutou that swept through the space his head had occupied.

Drawing Genzoyaibano, he took up a stance facing the renegade, hoping to keep his attention away from Diaz. "Miara Kanada, I presume," he asked, letting his voice tremble a little, as if shocked by the sudden attack and clutching the zanpakutou a little clumsily in both hands.

The man sneered at him. "You're what they send after me? I'm almost insulted - this won't even be -" He broke off suddenly and reflexively jerked head and sword around towards Diaz' hiding place.

Diaz had been silently preparing his spell, whispering the words to his chat as he gathered his kidou in his left hand, "Cover my enemy in his sin, so that he may know the pain he has caused to others. Let this sin consume him, Bakudou #12, Tragic Kingdom!", but as he was about to fire, Kanada sensed the energy build up and jumped towards Diaz. Diaz rolled to the left, firing the beam of light at Kanada. Unfortunately, Kanada was able to react, and sliced the energy down with his sword.

Diaz blanched and drew his zanpakutou and barely managed to block the incoming attack. "Asagao! Abandon the plan! Full attack!" Diaz screamed to Asagao, as he raised his reitatsu all the way and began to strike at Kanada, all blows being deflected.

When Asagao got close enough to join the fray, Diaz jumped backwards, letting Asagao hear his whisper, "I'll cover you, you're faster and stronger than me." Diaz landed and gained some ground, prepared to stop Kanada from escaping the grove.

Asagao had leapt forwards the moment that Diaz was detected, his poise of uncertainty vanishing as he did so. He had inflicted a shallow wound before Kanada beat him back and went for Diaz.

Now he nodded his understanding and bore in on the rogue, his face grim and purposeful. The two swordsmen struggled for advantage, Kanada wielding his blade two-handed in the common style of the Shinigami while Asagao clung to his less conventional one-handed styles. In the first moments they both took minor scratches - Kanada along his left forearm and Asagao across his brow, a trail of blood flowing into his eye. As their swords met it became apparent that Kanada was the better swordsman and the stinging of the head wound bore out the expectation that the renegade had poisoned the edge of his zanpakutou.

_Time to pull an advantage out of my sleeve?_ Asagao mused. _No, not yet._ "Diaz!" he called, backing up a step.

Diaz moved forward, at his highest speed to put the pressure onto Kanada, noticing that Asagao was slightly outclassed. Diaz looked to Asagao and with his eyes motioned that he'd distract Kanada for a moment while Asagao used his ability to neutralize the poison.

Diaz's sword met Kanada's blade, clashing back and forth, the two shinigami moved away from Asagao, Diaz being pushed back. "You're a better swordsman than me, and you have real potential, Kanada!" Diaz spun around Kanada, so that Asagao was to Kanada's back. "Why do you fight against the Gotei 13?" Diaz tried to distract him. "You could have been a real shinigami! A good one!" Diaz was tiring fast, and he let his eyes drift to Asagao before he blocked another strike from Kanada, carefully using his blade's angle to deflect the blow and avoid the poison.

Asagao smiled as he felt the stinging pain fade away. The wound itself was still bleeding, and he took a moment to tear away a strip from his sleeve to wrap around his head as an absorbant for the blood.

There was a clash of steel against steel as he returned to the fight, turning a cut away from Diaz and bringing Kanada's attention back to him. The first clash of arms had shown Kanada's power - greater skill with the sword and a smaller advantage in spiritual pressure. But Asagao was accustomed to fighting against those handicaps and he relied, as he always had, upon his speed, slashing in with a half-dozen cuts to each of Kanada's - forcing the murderer onto the defensive - before drawing back to test another angle of attack.

Diaz was about to stand back, but decided to press forward and assist Asagao in the fight. Diaz struck Kanada on the side, drawing blood, while Asagao diverted Kanada's blade to the other side. "You can't beat the both of us!" Diaz cried as he struck at Kanada's left side, drawing the attention of the blade, while Asagao struck to the right, just scratching Kanada as he flipped back.

"You two work amazaingly well together, but this is the end." Kanada smirked, even though he was bleeding from a few scratches, some deeper than others. "Slice them up, Morohamaru!" Kanada raised his sword above his head, as it glowed a nasty yellow color, and inside the light, the sword split and re-attached itself, revealing its form as a dual bladed katana.

Diaz and Asagao backed up slightly, and Diaz noticed the cloth Asagao had wrapped around his head wasn't absorbing all the blood. "By using his shikai, his sword can't have poison on it anymore, but let me help you while he's slightly distracted, this wound is small, two seconds to heal it...Return to the way you wereﾁc Be free of weakness...Expel your painﾁc Chiyudo #18, Tereiki!" Diaz's right hand glowed dimly and he healed the wound on Asagao's forhead. "Let's end his life now!"

Asagao nodded his agreement and stepped forward, aiming for Kanada's left side. "The end?" he asked. "I'll show you the end." He raised his own zanpakutou between them, careful to shield Diaz from view of it, and summoned all his revulsion at Kanada's betrayal of all the Shinigami had ever stood for. "Genzoyaibano! Seigun!"

Genzoyaibano's Shi Kai was less dramatic than Morohamaru's – there was no change to the form of the blade, only a flash of light from the razor-sharp blade - but Kanada paled as for a moment he saw himself through the eyes of the older but less experienced Shinigami, and saw how far he had fallen.

Asagao lunged and Kanda parried, but only barely, left off balance by the combination of attacks upon his body and his sensitive ego.

Diaz lunged forward, be it slightly behind Asagao, and slashed upwards at Kanada's leg. Kanada was unable to react quick enough, Asagao's shikai causing mental damage to him. Diaz's sword bit through the flesh of Kanada's leg, drawing blood, but not a crippling blow.

Diaz motioned to Asagao with his eyes, 'I'll go left, you go right!' and both shinigami scattered, Diaz striking high from the left, and Asagao striking sideways from the right. Kanada, with his reflexes dampened, was only able to block Asagao's stike, Diaz's inflicting another sword wound on the renegade shinigami.

Diaz flipped back again, while Asagao's repeated strikes held Kanada in place, and Diaz began to recast the spell he initially tried on him. "Cover my enemy in his sin, so that he may know the pain he has caused to others. Let this sin consume him, Bakudou #12, Tragic Kingdom!ﾁh Diaz shouted as the beam of light left his hand, striking the target successfully, this time. Diaz ripped the beam back with his right hand, re-gripped his sword and joined the fray again, knowing that it may take up to a full minute for Kanada to become incapacitated, but also knowing just a little bit of the wax would slow him down enough for Asagao to kill him.

Katana against katana, Kanada had been holding his own against Asagao. Strength cancelled speed and in skills the balance of power had lain with the renegade. The strengh was still there and Asagao had to avoid force versus fource clashes, gracefully pulling back from blocks that might have become cuts as they pushed him back. The twin-bladed weapon that Morohamaru became was powerful, and in the right hands it was devestating.

But Asagao, new to his Shi Kai learned a very important lesson as he cut, ducked, dodged and thrust around the lethally beautiful weapon.

Learning to use a Shi Kai's unsealed form takes as much time and effort as mastering the seal form does. Kanada had been studying the use of a sword for more than a decade, but he had had only months to adapt those skills to Morohamaru's altered shape and style.

Genzoyaibano, Shi Kai or no Shi Kai, handled precisely the same, and that levelled the skills playing field. Blood splashed onto the ground as Kanada, increasingly hindered by the bakudo that Diaz had unleashed, failed to keep Genzoyaibano from cutting three times into his left arm, severing muscle and tendon. Now wielding his weapon one handed, the renegade could not protect his hamstrings from Diaz and fell to one knee, a scream of pain elicited by the wound.

Asagao closed in, and then leapt back, hissing with his own pain as one end of Kanada's weapon slashed into his side. The villain of the piece muttered a kidou under his breath and the bakudo restricting him shattered...

Diaz was shocked to see his Bakudou broken so easily, but didn't let that hinder him. He clutched his sword and lunged in, thrusting into Kanada's left shoulder as Asagao leapt back. Diaz's eyes conveyed that he'd heal Asagao's wound after the renegade was dead. "You should be unable to use your sword now, Kanada. Give in and this will be less painful for you." Diaz was unprepared, as he was clipped with a swing from the left hand of Kanada, his leg slashed slightly. "Uhg..I made a mistake..." Diaz said as he jumped back to Asagao on his good leg. "I'm almost down and out, but there's one last thing I can do for you, I put this one on you, Asagao." Diaz smiled and sheathed his sword and began another kidou.

"As the Spring heals the wounds of Winter, as the Fall heals the heat of Summer, return and heal this mind to its original state... Chiyudo #17, Meidan." Diaz targeted his Meidan on Asagao, effectively clearing his mind of the distractions that were caused by his physical fatigue and constant thinking, allowing Asagao's judgement to return to the way it was before the fight, making his mind 'return to the beginner's'. "You should be able to finish him now, Asagao!"

Without a word, Asagao unleashed his attack. Under the influence of Diaz's kidou (and a distant part of his mind noted for future reference to _talk_ to the youngster about using things like that on him) pain and fatigue dropped away and Genzoyaibano flashed three times, drawing Kanada's defense into an overextenstion.

Then the weapon lashed out and it was not only blood that fell to the ground, but three fingers from the renegade's right hand. A moment later Morohamaru fell, the tip of the blade stained by Asagao's blood plunged into the earth, that marked by Diaz' blood pointing upwards.

Now Kanada could only defend himself with his hands and his feet – and Asagao was his master here, recognising every move and negating them with flicks of his weapon, sending rivulets of blood pouring down the increasingly tattered clothing.

"Mercy!" begged Kanada, realising that Asagao had no intention of closing for a clean kill and exposing himself to a counterattack. Instead, he would carve the renegade apart one piece at a time.

"Seigun!" replied Asagao and Genzoyaibano responded. In a flash of light, the desperate fear and crushing weight of defeat that were flowing through Kanada were laid open to his tormentor. Now that Kanada knew the power of the katana he could perhaps have resisted the intrusion, had he the will. Instead he simply raised his hands in supplication.

One stroke of Genzoyaibano cut them both off. Asagao stepped forwards and the backstroke took off Kanada's head.

Diaz was shocked at the brutal way Asagao decided to end the fight, but stood up and began to use his healing spell on himself. "Return to the way you wereﾁc Be free of weakness...Expel your painﾁc Chiyudo #18, Tereiki!"Diaz quickly healed himself, and approached Asagao, as his Chiyudo failed.

"Let me heal you a little bit, Asagao." Diaz began to recast his Chiyudo, and realized this would be his last casting for the day. "Return to the way you wereﾁc Be free of weakness...Expel your painﾁc Chiyudo #18, Tereiki!" Diaz's hand glowed as he used the last of his energy to cure the deeper wounds on Asagao. "Let's head home..." Diaz panted slightly, very tired.

"I need some rest, I've used all my energy with all these kidou." Diaz leaned on Asagao as they began to return to the Seireitei.

Asagao nodded. "Not a problem," he said, slinging Diaz' arm around his shoulders to take that burden.

"One thing," he said as they walked back into the more populated areas of Rukongai. "That kidou you used on me, Meadan?"

"Meidan," Diaz corrected.

"Don't use it on me again," Asagao directed firmly. "Well, except as a last resort," he qualified. "I'm not sure I like the effect it has on me. "

Diaz nodded his understanding.

Upon entering, they saw the seated officer who assigned the mission to them. "Mission completed, sir." Diaz flashed a thumbs up sign, as he fell completely unconscious.

.oOo.

Diaz walked through the streets of the Court of Pure Souls trying to find Chousen Asagao's house. _I'm sure I've been to this house before, so what the hell am I lost again in the maze?_ Diaz had gotten lost in dead ends about thirty times already this morning while looking for this house. He'd been ordered to head to the real world to handle some hollows that the patrolling shinigami couldn't purify. Diaz frowned as got trapped in another dead end. _This sucks._ Diaz cursed again to himself.

The instant he had been ordered to find a partner, Diaz had thought to Yuusuke or Asagao, and decided in talking to Asagao first, because he'd been doing a lot of work recently with Yuusuke already. Asagao had readily agreed, seemingly eager to kick some hollow butt. Unfortunately for Diaz, the meeting place was supposed to be at Asagao's house, which he couldn't find. "Where the hell am I now?" Diaz fumed as he passed a familiar looking house for the third time. Doing a double take, Diaz frowned and realized why the house was familiar, and then stormed up and banged on the door, his sleeveless gi shaking from the pounding. "Open the damn door, Asagao!"

Asagao yawned and rubbed his eyes before opening his door. He'd thought that odd dreams would be less of a problem now that he had learnt his zanpakutou's name. However, someone (either his subconscious or his zanpakutou, assuming that there was a difference) had disturbed his sleep with a doozy of a dream, featuring a misdirected stork and a mis-delivered baby on his doorstep.

On the bright side, although the dream had woken him early it hadn't been all _that_ early and washing his face in a bowl of clean, cold water had rendered him more or less ready to face the day. He was looking forward to a productive (and destructive) day of Hollow hunting with Diaz. Brimming with confidence he opened his door and -

"Ga ga go-go?"

Asagao froze, then began to look down at the doorstep. Before the temptation could overwhelm him, his left hand managed to slide the door closed. Safely inside he pinched himself - no, he was definitely not still dreaming. Okay, he'd simply imagined the gurgle. Obviously, it was just an after-effect of last night's dream. He'd just open the door and there would be nothing there. See?

"Go go ga-gah!"

_Oh... shit..._

With a put upon sigh he looked down and saw a baby in a small basket on his doorstep. The infant looked up at him and gurgled endearingly. The shinigami knelt and lifted the basket carefully, only to almost jump out of his sandals at Diaz' shout from outside the outer door.

"WAAAAAH!" screamed the startled child.

"COMING!" bellowed Asagao only to wince as the wail redoubled.

Diaz was about to yell again, aggravated from being lost in the Court of Pure Souls for the millionth time, when Asagao opened the door. Diaz was about to yell at him and start complaining about the way the city works, when he saw Asagao carrying a small baby. "...What... the... hell?!" Diaz closed his eyes and counted to ten, figuring the baby would be gone when he opened his eyes. _No, it's still there._ "Want to tell me what the hell is going on here?" Diaz put a hand to his head, totally confused. _What in the world is going on? I know the baby isn't his, so who the hell's kid is it?_ "Where did that baby come from, who's is it, and what are we going to do with the damn thing? We can't bring it with us to Earth, it's got to be against some kind of protocol!"

Asagao shrugged helplessly and plucked the infant out of the basket, jogging it up and down in hope that it would stop the crying. "I haven't a clue," he hissed, dropping the basket unceremoniously. "I just opened the door and it was there."

"And no!" he added, seeing the thought beginning to form. "I don't know who the mother might be." He paused and added: "Not for a kid this young, anyway," almost as an afterthought. "I should probably take him... or her... to a family looking to foster a new arrival or something, but that can take days to arrange."

He checked the baby's nappy, sniffed and then rolled his eyes. "Well, I guess that's one question I'm about to answer. The brat needs a new nappy."

"I'm not helping you with that." Diaz growled at Asagao. "You found the little brat, you handle it." Diaz gave Asagao a look that expressed his feelings on the subject quite clearly. "Look, we either have to run this kid to Rukongai or find someone to look after it. We have a mission to do." Diaz continued as Asagao handled the baby's needs. "I still don't quite know how this thing appeared on your doorstep. If it was someone's brat, I don't think that anyone would just leave it here. And then, if it wasn't someone's kid, it would be a dead baby from earth, but how could a baby from there just fall onto your step, just like that? It would have fallen into Rukongai or something..." _I don't understand how this is possible. Well, yes I do, but its so outrageous..._ Diaz began to laugh a bit. "This is so ridiculous, I can't help but laugh."

"Ha ha," Asagao replied sourly, disappearing back into his room. "Alright, let's see..." Shuffling around for a few minutes he found a couple of feet of linen he'd been planning to tear into bandages next time he had a chance. He supposed that it might make a half-way decent nappy. "Take a look at the basket, will you?" he called. "See if you can find any clues."

Diaz frowned as he looked inside the basket, not seeing anything of importance that could find a clue. Looking a bit deeper, Diaz's frown deepened. "I don't know what it means, but it's got the kanji for 'Wind' on the bottom of the basket." _Wind is my element, I wonder what this means. Then again, it might mean nothing since this thing showed up at his house, not mine._ "Wind is my specialty. Odd coincidence. I really don't see how that will help us out, though. Have you decided what we're going to do with the baby, yet?" Diaz looked up to see Asagao tending to the baby. _I don't think I like kids._

"I'm thinking, I'm thinking," the blond replied, bare-chested, the baby lying on his gi as he removed the soiled small clothes. "Eww... well, she's a girl," he said dryly. "And I suppose it's a good thing that that do-gi was already damaged."

A few moments later, Asagao emerged with a heavy, high collared crimson cloak draped over his uniform. He had one side open to reveal the baby in an improvised sling at his hip, opposite the zanpakutou. The sling was fairly obviously once a uniform do-gi and the do-gi he wore under the cloak was newer than the battered one he'd worn earlier.

"I'll talk to the powers that be and see about finding a foster family once we get back," he said, settling the cloak gently over the kid. "If we pick up a few supplies then I guess the brat won't be too much trouble while we're out dealing with the Hollows."

Diaz's frown deepened. "Okay, but she's your responsibility, Asagao." Diaz turned and began to leave, knowing that Asagao would be following him. "We'll use the gate to Earth at the first division headquarters." Diaz began leading the way through his favourite maze to the first division headquarters. "There should be some supplies for you in here. Grab them and let's get this show on the road." Diaz tossed Asagao a bag that he could use to fill up with the needed supplies for the baby. Seeing Asagao nod to him, Diaz lead the way to the gate, a Hell Butterfly flying over his shoulder.

Diaz drew his sword and stabbed it into the gate, unlocking it. The hell butterfly flew through it, and Diaz, Asagao and the baby followed it through the gate to Earth. "Why, why, why is it always New York? I swear they send me here on purpose, I hate this place so much." Diaz complained as he sheathed his sword again.

"It doesn't seem too bad," Asagao replied softly, a crimson shadow to Diaz' right. His cloak bulged, covering not only himself but a kitbag of supplies and the baby, who was nestled against his left hip, the older man having rearranged his burdens before they opened the gate. His katana was drawn and he rested it spine first against his shoulder.

"It's just dark, dirty, smelly and raining," he continued sarcastically. "I'm sure given time I'll grow to love it just as much as you do." There was an interrogative sound from the baby and Asagao patted it gently with his free hand. "So, where should we go looking for these Hollows?"

Diaz looked at Asagao oddly. "Spread your senses out, you'll find them fast enou... What the hell?" Diaz whirled around drawing his katana and blocking an attack that was aimed at Asagao. _Even the stupidest of hollows isn't usually dumb enough to attack two shinigami at once._ Diaz pushed the hollow back easily, rotating his sword and slicing through the hand that it struck at him with.

"You're such a weak hollow, why would you be foolish enough to attack two shinigami?" Diaz frowned. Why was this hollow attacking like this? It didn't add up to Diaz, and he voiced his opinion to Asagao while jumping over the hollow and slicing it clean through, purifying it instantly. "A hollow usually doesn't act so stupid. Not the one's I've seen, and the highest I've encountered was a low C rank hollow. Even though this had nowhere near that power, I don't understand. Unless it was just created, it should have known not to strike like that." Diaz frowned deeper. "I don't like this. Maybe it's just me..."

Asagao had leapt up and out of Diaz' way, lightly triangle-jumping from wall to wall to reach the lowest level of a fire-escape on one of the buildings that surrounded them. His eyes were narrowed into slits. And while his left hand rested gently against his living burden, his right was extended, zanpakutou blade horizontal and turned to reflect his eyes like a mirror.

"We were expecting a few strong Hollows," he replied. "And I can feel them. But there are more Hollows out there. Not strong maybe, but quite a few." He frowned. "And more are coming. Some of them strong. High C-rank maybe. Has some idiot been summoning them?"

"Maybe some idiot released some hollow bait? I don't know... There's so many of them! They're not very strong, but they're all converging on our current location. I've never seen anything like this, nor do I sense anyone with an abnormally high spiritual pressure in this general area." Diaz saw another hollow appearing behind Asagao, going to strike at him again. "Asagao, behind you!" Diaz cried out as Asagao turned and purified the hollow in one slash. Diaz's eyes narrowed as well as he jumped up to Asagao and landed next to him. "The second one attacked you as well... why are they going straight for you?"

"Maybe I have a magnetic personality?" Asagao replied grimly. "Let's worry about that later – one of the stronger Hollows might be verbose enough to tell us if we get lucky." He stepped back and parried a third Hollow's attack, battling aside razor-sharp claws and shattering the ivory mask with a smooth thrust. "Keep moving!" he ordered, turning and running up the fire escape. "If the Hollows want to come at us then let's pick our own battleground!"

_And this is a fing bad time for it,_ he brooded, steadying the girl against him as he ran. Jolted by the swift movement and rapid turns, she sobbed against him and Asagao grimaced. "Ebaaonwaado," he cried out, cutting down a pair of Hollows that moved to bar his way, trusting to Diaz to watch his back.

Diaz followed Asagao quickly, his sword slicing through three hollows that appeared behind Asagao. "On your guard, Asagao! They're after you!" _I don't understand this! I've never seen hollows acting in such a way, or even read about it! Even hollow bait just attracts them into the general area, it doesn't actually cause them to strike at a specific person! Even if it did cause that, it shouldn't matter! This started happening the moment we arrived here!_ Diaz's eyes narrowed again. _Normally, when a shinigami comes to Earth, hollows with low brain power try to avoid him. Hollows who are stronger try to eat him, usually using a strategy... but these are just rushing in to their deaths..._ Diaz stopped cold. "Asagao! The baby! They're after the kid!"

"Impossible," Asagao responded, automatically. "Hell, how could they even know her? They can't see her under my cloak and her reitatsu should be entirely masked by my own, close as we are!" He reached the top and spun, cloak swirling around as Genzoyaibano cut a deadly path through the four Hollows that were awaiting him there. The first hit the floor, dissolving away as the last began to fall, mask shattered by a sidekick.

_Low level threats,I he assessed. IBut numerous._

A larger Hollow closed and Asagao dodged aside, sandals scattering water from the puddles on the flat roof as he evaded. _It's focusing on my left side – maybe it is the brat!_ "You may have a point," he admitted.

"Tell me, Asagao! Can you sense my presence? If you couldn't see or hear me, would you know I was here?!" Diaz dashed in front of Asagao, slashing down another pair of peon hollows. "I can't even feel your presence! I can only sense the hollows as they are appearing!" Diaz whirled around, slashing another hollow down. "Look, something isn't right here! Follow me, we have to get out of the city!" Diaz ran down the rooftop, leaping to the next one and then darting across, again leaping to the next building, hoping Asagao was following.

_I see a park over there! It's night time, so not many people should be there!_ Diaz jumped to the street and darted into the park with Asagao right behind him, and behind Asagao was a massive train of hollows that were after the pair of shinigami. "I'll handle this! Dominator! Mask of flesh and blood. All living beings. Flutter of wings. That which has the name human! Truth and temperance, slightly imbed your claws into the walls of innocent dreams. Hadou San Ju San, Soukatsui!" Diaz fired a flat projectile from his hand at full power into the group of hollows, destroying the whole lot of them. "Asagao, answer my question!"

"I can't," Asagao replied, sword momentarily at rest. "Nothing but Hollows – they're overwhelming my senses. I might be able to feel you if I focused, but I don't fancy opening up to all the reitatsu around here. I can't even feel the girl!"

"This makes no sense," he admitted as more Hollows appeared. _Are we going to be bombarded by every Hollow in the city?" he thought, slightly awed. IIt's nice to be popular but..._ "Get me some room," he called, settling on a plan. The very idea disgusted him, but it might be the only way.

Diaz slashed through a hollow who was appearing as he darted back to give Asagao his space. "What are you going to do, Asagao!" _He doesn't understand, it's not the hollows overwhelming his senses, its the girl that's blocking shinigami reitatsu from being sensed! I don't know why, but she acts as a shinigami-cloaking device! This makes no sense..._

Asagao was too focused to reply. Instead he raised his zapakutou, calling out her name. "Genzoyaibano – seigun!" There was a flash of light along the blade. And he saw –

- dark shadows, black and red, silver-steel death in their hands -

- the warm feeling of reitatsu, sweet and innocent and infinitely desirable -

- pale hands, gentle hands, cradling an infant that he knew was the one he carried -

- the approach of rival predators, stronger predators, the urge to whine and slink away against the fierce need to contest for this morsel -

- jade eyes looking back at him, reflected at him in his sword -

- pain, and then release, a last moment of hate for the trap that had sprung shut –

- and then he was himself again and saw his target torn apart, moving on to it's next incarnation as his comrade's zanpakutou cut the beastlike Hollow down. "They can feel her though!" he called. "They can feel her! Ebaaonwaado!" With that battle cry, he slashed through both arms of a ogre-like Hollow and a reverse-cut divided the grinning mask into two separate halves.

"I'm using too much energy by using my sword like this, very well! I'll let you see it, Hollows! Prepare yourselves!" Diaz lifted his sword up with his right hand, placing it horizontally across his body, holding the blade with his left hand, Diaz whispered the release to his soul cutter. "Kaze no koi wa atsui. Kimi no Nozomi wa boku no gechi." The air around Diaz spun in a small tornado around him, gathering around the blade to his sword which slowly crumbled away. "Atemi, Noukonkaze!" Diaz shouted, lifting his sword above his head, the wind becoming his new blade. Sharpening the blade to it's maximum, Diaz sliced through a hollow easily with his lighter blade. Suddenly, Diaz's blade of wind distorted and reformed into a darker colour, the sword glowing eerily. "What...? Something is effecting Noukonkaze!"

Diaz whirled around to the hollows, slashing three of them down with his distorted blade. "What is effecting you, Noukonkaze?" Diaz whispered to the sword. _My wind energy is being increased, Diaz! Something in this area is resonating with me!_ Noukonkaze whispered to Diaz. _Find it, Diaz! Find it!_ Diaz spun around, looking to Asagao, seeing his left hip glowing slightly. "Asagao, the baby is glowing?!"

Asagao flipped up the hem of his cloak, baffling the pincers of yet another Hollow, disabling it long enough for three disabling hits to drive it back. He was finding it increasingly hard to put a Hollow down permanently, instead settling for sending them reeling with wounds that he knew they'd shrug aside given a few minutes.

Sparing a glance while avoiding an unpleasantly co-ordinated strike, he saw that Diaz was right – the girl glowed slightly in the dark of the night and had ceased to cry, instead looking up at him with disturbingly steady jade eyes. "So I see," he shouted. "Any bright ideas what to do about it?"

Diaz frowned, relying on his instincts, as Noukonkaze was getting harder and harder to control, Diaz rushed to Asagao's side where the baby was relying on Asagao to fend off the hollows for the moment. "Noukonkaze, what shall I do?"

As if in response (and perhaps it was), a bolt of lightning lashed out between blade and babe. Asagao shouted in surprise but even his speed was not enough to avoid it. The blue energies arced between the two, somehow causing no harm to the child, but flickering tendrils spread around the two surprised shinigami, battering back Hollows that tried to take advantage of their distraction.

There was a roar as the flow of energy reversed. The lighting lashed out wildly, hurling back the weaker Hollows and seemingly vaporising more than one. Asagao tore the girl from her sling, dropping Genzoyaibano to hold her in both hands as a ball of glowing spiritual energy lifted from her, rising along the arc until the high point. Suddenly the connections broken, freeing Diaz' sword and the girl in Asagao's arms.

"I see... these are the reason that the hollows want you." Diaz looked into the ball of energy, which now was slightly clearer, a pair of bracers floating inside it. Diaz tried to reach into the ball to grab them, but got cut by the wind swirling around it. Diaz looked to Noukonkaze, seeing it fighting the energy ball for the wind around it. "I understand now. If I want to use you to fight, I have to fight you for the wind. Very well!" Diaz pointed the bladeless hilt and guard of Noukonkaze at the ball of wind, closing his eyes, whispering to Asagao. "Protect me!" Diaz concentrated, pulling the energy from the ball of wind with Noukonkaze, but then losing it again.

Diaz opened his eyes, pouring more of his reitatsu into Noukonkaze, absorbing more and more of the wind from the ball of energy, until finally the ball was completely gone, the bracers falling to the ground. "Then, I will use you, too!" Diaz picked up the dark blue bracers with the kanji for wind on the back of them in gold and slid them onto his wrists. Their name floated into his mind. _Kaze no Sudekuchi._ "Okay, Asagao. We need to do something about these hollows! _I can sense him now, and the child! But these hollows are much more powerful than the ones we were killing in one hit!_

Still cradling the girl against his chest with his left arm, Asagao snatched up Genzoyaibano and leapt into the disorientated Hollows, his war cry echoing across New York for the third time.

"EBAAONWAADO!"

One instant he faced them, the next he was behind them, the zanpakutou flicking with deadly intent. A Hollow in its pat might find itself unexpectedly spared but it's brethren slain – the speed and unpredictability of his assault leaving him unscathed by the weaker Hollows, many of whom broke and ran now that their prize was no more. But that was by no means all of them...

Diaz looked down at his hands, the golden kanji for "Kaze" on the back of them glowing brightly, Diaz looked up to the hollows, his sword stabilized in the super sharpened state, Diaz now using the power of the Kaze no Sudekuchi to hold keep it consistently strong. Diaz felt his kidou energy rise by a slight amount, and charged into the group of hollows that Asagao had left alive. Diaz, using his blade of wind, cut down a few more of the hollows before darting out of the group.

Upon hitting the ground again, Diaz turned on his toes and re-entered the hollow horde, taking down three more of them. Diaz noticed idly that the bracers seemed to have increased his speed slightly too. Diaz called to Asagao, "Look! The group isn't growing!" Diaz looked down at the bracers again. "I think that I have them under control. By using the bracers, it seems that their energy isn't acting like a signal to them anymore, because I'm using the energy!"

"Glad to – grunt – hear it!" Asagao replied. "Because I think we've winnowed this down to that select group of badass Hollows we were hunting." He whirled and kicked a Hollow squarely in the face, bouncing off the shattering mask to stand back to back with Diaz. "So let's remind them of who won the Great War and why!"

Diaz grinned at Asagao. "Then let's do this!" Diaz stabbed his sword into the ground and raised his hand at one of the hollows. "Take this one, Asagao!" Diaz concentrated, his energy building up slightly. "The titans curse the chosen, forcing them to carry their great burden. Bind and restraint, O demon's chain. The sinister blight renewed once again. Bakudou Ni Ju Hachi, Anchor!" Diaz fired a strap of kidou at a mean-looking hollow which had six arms, a mask that was stripped like a tiger and glowing red eyes. The spell hit the hollow, wrapping around him completely, firing an arrow from the back of it, dragging the hollow back about twenty feet and the arrow burrowing into the ground. Three more arrows shot off in the other three cardinal directions and then burrowing into the ground also. Diaz shouted to Asagao, "It'll hold him for twenty seconds, kill that one so we only have five to deal with!" Diaz charged into the mass of hollows, barely evading the gnashing of teeth and clawing of their fangs, managing to wound a few of them, but not seriously harm or kill any.

Genzoyaibano pierced the mighty Hollow three times, knee, hip and shoulder as Asagao scaled it's side. Tentacles lashed out at him, while the main body was bound, these appendages of the head seemed to retain a their flexibility – perhaps because they were so small in comparison to it's full height.

"Don't call my name in battle - it's not wise," Asagao chanted, zanpakutou whirling in devastating patterns that baffled and bled the tentacles. "Do not distract me when you see a new soul in these eyes." His blue eyes blazed in the reflected light of the city and his cloak whirled around him, hiding his body so that it seemed that his only presence there was cloak and sword and those terrible incandescent eyes. "For when the War-God fills this flesh I'm in, I am no more your friend - I am the fury of the Wind." The tentacles drew back for a lethal strike and with a savage grin, Asagao sliced the Hollow's mask into eight equal portions.

"Don't call my name in battle - stand away," the rangy Shinigami warned, sandals slapping spiritual flesh as he ran along the back of the dissolving Hollow to strike at the mask of a second enemy. For a moment the cloak fell back enough to show two jade eyes peeking boldly out of the cloak's folds at the carnage being unleashed. "For I will never hear you, but another creature may." The large Hollow toppled, crashing through a tree as it fell, its mask broken but not shattered. The stroke had failed to slay. "It never sees a friend, but only foes - Just count the bodies flying where this taken body goes." Mud splattered away as Asagao bounded to the ground and skidded to a halt.

_Has he lost his mind?_ was the first thing that Diaz thought while he heard Asagao singing such a morbid song. Diaz tried to push it out of his mind as he engaged in a fight with one of the four remaining hollows, evading it's strikes while parrying it's friend's attacks. Spinning around, Diaz slashed through the mask of the hollow he was dancing with, purifying it in one strike. "These can't be the hollows that we were sent here for... they're still too weak!" Diaz jumped over the attacking claw and landed on it, seemingly thinking to himself. The hollow, furious at the mockery, roared out in its ghastly voice. "Shut up." Diaz stated in a monotone as he stabbed Noukonkaze through the hollow's mask, right between the eyes. "Two left, then we can try to figure this out."

Asagao nodded a silent agreement, but his chanting continued, punctuated by every strike of his blade. "Don't call my name in battle - wait the time. Until I fall and rise again, with eyes you know are mine." The fallen Hollow blinked at the zanpakutou that had buried itself in its face. "And then perhaps we'll rest and talk of home." Ignoring the dissolving Hollow behind him, Asagao stalked across the park to one of the two Hollows, sliding Genzoyaibano back into it's scabbard with such apparent ease that it looked as if he practised doing so with eight pounds of squirming child in his other hand. "But you'll not be surprised to see how much I walk alone."

Seeing what it seemed to imagine was an opening, the Hollow lunged at Asagao, who calmly tucked the baby back into her sling before the Hollow struck. Clouds of steam and debris from the impact obscured him for a moment, but it cleared to reveal him holding the monster's long incisors, one in each fist, feet braced against the ground. His eyes were still blazing with anger as he wrestled, the Hollow seeming to lack arms to support the oversized mouth that it wanted to fight with. "So how about it, bad breath?" asked the Shinigami with savage humour. "Want to tell me where your bigger buddies are before I kill you? You never know... they might manage to avenge you."

Diaz dashed over to where Asagao had the hollow held in place, grinning at the scene. "Hollow, tell us where to find the one who sent you here." The hollow yowled through its open mouth, a ghastly scream that seemed like it would be able to shatter glass. "Yooooooou will just kill me anyways... whyyy should I tell you anything...?" The hollow seemed to scream. "Because..." Diaz slashed up the side of the hollows body, keeping away from it's mask so he didn't purify it. "I can make your purification simple, or painful. Which is it?" Diaz winked at Asagao, who was still holding it from escaping.

The hollow roared in pain, screeching its discomfort for all the might hear it. "They're hiding outsiiiide the cityyy... northhhh..." Diaz bowed to the hollow, thanking it as a joke when Asagao let go of it's teeth and punched it in the face, shattering it's mask and purifying the hollow. "Now, want to inform me about what you were singing?"

Asagao lifted the child out of the sling again and rocked her gently. Having settled down nicely for most of the fight, she was turning crotchety now that it was over. This parenting thing wasn't that bad. Then he remembered the nappy changing and decided to hold off on a final decision on that. Instead he pulled a small flask of milk from his kitbag and let her suckle the milk through the soft nipple.

"It's just a song," he said in answer to Diaz' query. "Quite an old one. Some of the sword styles I practise use music to guide the pace of the sequences. Plus..." He smiled sadly. "An old friend once told me my singing voice would scare a Hollow. I figured, why not test the theory?"

Diaz looked at Asagao oddly. "Your singing voice would scare a Menos Grande." Diaz looked towards the outskirts of New York City. "Well, shall we get moving?" Diaz didn't wait for Asagao's reply and ran into the tightly packed streets of New York, triangle jumping to the top of one of the tall buildings. Landing on the top, Diaz ran through the town undetected, sensing Asagao and the baby right behind him. The buildings tapered off into smaller buildings, Diaz making sure his spiritual pressure was completely concealed. "Let's find this hollow. This so-called 'boss' that we were sent here to off."

"What a splendid notion," Asagao replied casually, his own spiritual pressure hidden to the extent that the pressure of the infant he carried seemed to be moving under it's own power (a dubious prospect at best). Fortunately, that wouldn't really be distinguishable at anything more than half a dozen yards. The journey had taken long enough for the sun to begin rising and the clouds to the their right were notably lighter than they had been. Rain was still falling though.

Asagao's eyes glazed for a moment and then he shook his head. "Can't pick anything out. Think it's hiding it's presence too? Or am I just being spirit-blind?"

"It's hiding. Keep your pressure down, we'll repeat the Kanada thing." Diaz grinned at him and flared his spiritual pressure to about the halfway mark. "That's about half of my spiritual pressure, making me look like a weak shinigami. Easy target for a hollow like this one." Diaz left his sword sheathed as he waited for the hollow, which didn't take long to appear.

The air behind Diaz distorted, and a giant 'Kuji-Hollow' appeared behind him, it's spiritual pressure totally unleashed. The attack came as a surprise, but Diaz, with the help of his Kaze no Sodekuchi, was able to evade the attack. Drawing his soul cutter, Diaz grinned at the hollow. "You fell right into my trap, foolish hollow." He let his spiritual totally loose and sinking into a serpent-like stance, Diaz was ready to end this. "This mission has gone on too long... it's time to end this, Asagao."

Asagao nodded his head, rising from behind the convenient cover of a small shrub. There was no war cry this time – he'd worked that particular mood through. Instead, the Hollow was just beginning to wonder who Diaz was speaking to when Genzoyaibano opened the first of six curving cuts into the spiritual flesh of it's back. He dodged back from the Hollow's heel as it lashed out in a counter-attack, drawing it's attention onto him and away from Diaz. Even with his spiritual pressure freed from concealment, he felt like the weaker of the pair by a simple measure of reitatsu. But there was more to combat than raw strength and the monster could not quite land a blow.

Diaz darted in and slashed at the hollow, adding three more cuts to the six already carved into it's back. _I've got to weaken this thing enough so that I can purify it. If it's too strong for me to hit its face, I won't be able to purify it at all._ The hollow reared back for a powerful attack on Asagao, but Diaz jumped up and slashed the hollow's arm, making a huge gash in it. The hollow grabbed its arm and roared in pain, screeching so loudly that Diaz almost dropped his sword to cover his ears. The hollow regained its bearings before Diaz did, and smashed him with a clawed hand through a window in a small building, sending him tumbling through the cubicles and into a wall inside it. "Ugh... that one hurt... I hope Asagao can handle it for a moment." _He needs to be careful. If he so much as gets hit, it may take him down. My pressure should be higher than his... and if I took this much damage, it might be a game ended for him._

Asagao's eyes widened as Diaz went flying and then narrowed. The Hollow, turning to finish off the weaker of the pair of intrusive Shinigami was quite surprised to find a crimson blur around its lower legs – traceable more by the pain of continued shallow wounds that were slowly wearing away at it's strength than by sight. Striking downwards in hope of intercepting the irritating flea didn't achieve anything at first – but on the third attempt it felt something and screamed –

- in pain! Hoisting it's hand, it found that several of it's clawed fingers hand been hewed away. Screaming with pain it barely noticed the words from below it. "Remove me from sight, blind their eyes. Do not allow this foe to hit their mark." Asagao leapt backwards suddenly, hurling his katana up into the sky to discharge the kidou with both hands. "Bougyoudo #3, Blue Mist!" Blue smoke erupted around the surprised Hollow as Asagao extended his hand to catch Genzoyaibano as it fell.

"Diaz," he called, dashing in to strike a double-handed cut at the Hollow's leg. A squall of surprise came from inside his cloak at the sudden change of pace. "Are you hurt?"

"Ugh..." Diaz brushed the fuzz out of his head. "Yeah, I'm okay. Don't get hit by it, it hits really hard." Diaz clutched his sword and charged into the Blue Mist, slashing at the hollow's arms, managing to finish the cut that he had started, slicing the arm completely off as it dissolved into the spiritrons it was made of. Diaz had to cover his ears again as he was running away, as the hollow roared again, blasting the blue mist back, Diaz skidded to a halt by Asagao. "Let's kill this thing."

"More or less what I had in mind," Asagao replied laconically, eyeing the Hollow measuringly as it gathered its strength to continue the fight. They really needed to put a stop to that. "If I can put him down, can you purify him?"

Assuming that any reply could be made while they were moving, he lunged in. This time his tactics were different. Instead of the steady slashing attacks he had previously employed, long raking cuts set the infuriated Hollow growling in pain and hopping almost comically to avoid the persistent pain being applied to it's lower body and upper legs. With only one arm it's ability to strike back had been severely curtailed.

Diaz dashed in, sword still in its sealed state, distracting the hollow away from Asagao, only using his speed and sword to avoid and parry the hollow's single armed strikes. Diaz watched as Asagao got behind the hollow, and Diaz jumped back, narrowly avoiding another strike from the hollow's claw. Diaz landed back, releasing his soul cutter again, "Kaze no koi wa atsui, kimi no nozomi wa boku uno gechi. Atemi, Noukonkaze!" Diaz's blade of wind howled, ready to defend himself and assist Asagao with the hollow, should he not kill it immediately.

There is one injury that is precisely calculated to strike a male at their most vulnerable point. Not only their ego, but also their manhood. Hollows don't really have to worry much about the latter but they retain plenty of the former and on top of that, they were all at one time humans and many of them – just about half of them, as it happens – were once male. Some reactions are automatic.

So when Asagao triangle jumped – to the accompaniment of a delighted giggling from the baby, who was apparently going to be quite the roller coaster fan if she lived long enough and happened to ever ride on one – off the Hollow's knee and managed to deliver a rising back cut directly to the juncture of the Hollow's legs, he was reasonably sure that the reaction would be out of all proportion of the injury.

He was right, although given that part of the reaction was a glancing backhand to the side of his head that sent him tumbling along the street on his back, baby cradled to his chest and sword gone astray somehow, he was in not place to see the Hollow collapse to it's knees, an expression of outraged disbelief on it's ivory mask. "You _bastard_!" the huge spirit squeaked, rather less than menacingly.

Diaz would have laughed if he wasn't already charging in, running up the hollow's huge arm, then jumping off the arm and slashing the hollow through the back of the head, causing it to explode into a mass of spiritrons. Diaz landed behind it, sheathing his sword as he resealed it. "Well, Asagao. If you ever do that type of thing to me, I will find a way to crush you." Diaz smirked at him. "Mission complete. However, we still have to do something about this stupid kid. You have that planned out?" Diaz glanced to his bracers, thanking the kid silently.

Asagao groaned as he levered himself off of the floor and gave his cloak a shake, thankful for it's protection against the ground. "Not... as such," he conceded. "I think we can presume that her presence isn't accidental, given your nifty new bracelets."

"Yeah, but I know that you can't raise it yourself. And even with the bracers, there should be a mother for this child. As a single shinigami, you can't really raise the kid by yourself. Anyways, let's return to Soul Society. I've had enough of this stupid city." Diaz drew his sword again and thrust it into thin air, the blade halfway vanishing. "Unlock!" Diaz called as the gate opened up and two hell butterflies flew through. Diaz resheathed his sword and walked through the gate with the butterflies, assuming Asagao was following him. "We'll discuss what to do with your kid when we get back to your place."

The corners of Asagao's mouth might have quirked upwards at Diaz' intention of remaining involved in the matter. Then again they might not have. Beards are a wonder at disguising that sort of thing.

.oOo.

They had just reached the mouth of the street on which lay the gate Asagao usually used to enter the Eleventh Division's district of Seireitei, for the simple reason that it was about twelve paces from the door to his room, when Asagao halted and extended his arm to block Diaz's passage. From ahead he could hear the sound of a small crowd gathered on the street and they sounded... wrong. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up.

"Hold," he whispered and returned the girl to her sling, drawing Genzoyaibano quietly from her saya.

Extending the blade until the merest tip extended past the corner. Eyes fixed on the blade, Asagao whispered a command: "Genzoyaibano... seigun..." The tiniest bead of light glimmered at the tip for a moment and he froze, then slowly drew it back.

"There's half-a-dozen men outside the gate," he said. "They're wearing black and might be casually mistaken for Shinigami, but they aren't. And they're waiting for someone to approach the gate from our direction."

Diaz frowned. "Do you know what they're looking for?" He silently unsheathed his sword. "If they're trying to enter the Court of Pure Souls, the gate guardian should be enough to handle them." _I don't understand? What could they be waiting for? Or rather, what could they want? Why are they dressed as Shinigami?_ "If they have good spiritual pressure, they're hiding it, I can't sense anything from them..."

"Not much," Asagao concurred. "They're not trying to get into the Division area – at a guess they got in on legitimate business or a reasonable semblance of it. Rare, but it can happen. Any guesses as to who they might be waiting for?"

"Why would a group of people from Rukongai be waiting for a shinigami? I don't really see what a Shinigami would be able to do for them, unless they just want to meet a friend. However, if they were just trying to meet a friend, then they wouldn't be wearing all black. Let's go out and meet them, the best way to find out would be to just ask them. I'm keeping my sword drawn."

Asagao nodded. "Remember, they might just be trying to fit in," he cautioned and walked around the corner, hand still on the hilt of his zanpakutou. "Good afternoon," he called out as he saw the little group. "What brings you... gentlemen all the way into Seireitei?"

The group focused upon the two Shinigami. One of them noticed something and elbowed the man who seemed to be the leader, indicating the baby at Asagao's hip. Asagao's eyes narrowed as he noticed that reaction.

The leader stepped forwards. "Greetings, Shinigami-sama," he said politely. "I am Inginburei Hohiro. I apologise for intruding upon your time, but we seek a member of my family who might have been lost here recently."

Diaz stepped up on front of Asagao, blocking the path between him and the leader, sword still drawn, the nudge and look at the baby was not lost on Diaz, either. "Who are you? Your real name." Diaz stared intently at the leader, the kanji on his bracers slightly glowing. The man looked nervously at Diaz and didn't reply. Diaz took another step forward, waving his sword menacingly. "Answer me."

The man took a step backwards and bowed to Diaz, feigning courtesy. "I'm Inginburei Hohiro, it's always good to meet one of the shinigami that help the world so much." Diaz frowned at that, sure that he was lying about his name and pretty much everything else he was saying, shooting a glance at Asagao. _People generally admire shinigami, wanting to be them, or hate them for not protecting them so much. But something about this guy seems way too fake._ "Who is your family member? If you tell us what he or she looks like, maybe we can find him or her for you." Diaz said, also feigning courteously. _Kill them, Diaz! Kill them!_ Fuzenkan whispered in the back of Diaz's mind. _It might be alright, still. I won't kill them unless it's just, Fuzenkan. Shut up!_ Diaz shot back mentally.

Hohiro's eyes flicked past Diaz to look at Asagao for a moment. "I'm looking for my niece," he explained. "The daughter of my late brother. My sister-in-law gave birth early, after my brother died in the recent troubles, and she hasn't been quite right in the head. Yesterday she took her baby out of our house and when we found her, she didn't have her anymore. We traced her path into Seireitei and received permission to follow it here."

He paused. "I see that your companion carries a child," he adds. "May is ask, could she be my niece?"

Diaz looked at the man intently, his eyes burning into the man's own. "This child is under the authority of the shinigami you see standing behind me. Though, I would like to speak to your sister-in-law. Where can I find her?" _I sense something, evil, coming off of these men. The girl may be acting strange because of the same reasons that is giving me these chills._ "Where is the girl?" Diaz stepped forward. "Take us to her."

Hohiro smiled at the two shinigami, "I see, well, she's feeling too ill right now to talk..."

Diaz waved his sword again. "You will take us to her. Now." Hohiro's smile wavered as he nodded, beginning to walk of back towards their area of Rukongai. Diaz glanced back at Asagao, his eyes speaking volumes.

Asagao looked thoughtful. He'd not heard of the Inginburei family, but he didn't keep track of the noble and semi-noble clans that closely. He preferred lower stratas of society. The story about the man's sister was plausible after a fashion, but vague enough to cover a multitude of sins.

"Does her mother have the same beautiful dark eyes?" he asked. "They're almost black," he added, looking down at the girl and resting a hand protectively over her as she slept.

Hohiro shook his head, apparently reassured by the friendly conversation. "No, she gets those from her father," he confided.

Diaz had sheathed his sword, as walking through Rukongai with his sword drawn would draw far too much attention to him. He did, however, keep his hand on the hilt to his soul cutter to make for a quick reaction should his gut instinct turn out to be correct. Diaz kept his mouth closed as Asagao and Hohiro spoke quietly, just listening in on the conversation.

Asagao's ears twitched as he heard the mistake. Obviously the 'doting uncle' hadn't paid enough attention to the baby to realise that her eyes were jade, quite different from his own dark eyes.

The group of men and two shinigami and one baby ended up at a decently nice house, proving the family was either noble or semi-noble. Entering the house, Diaz idly noted that someone was whispering to Hohiro and Hohiro replied to the whisper, sounding like, to Diaz's trained ear, "Don't worry." Hohiro then led the two shinigami and the baby upstairs to a dim room. Inside the room, a beautiful lady lay on a bed, very ill.

Diaz had never seen the woman before, nor had he heard of her, but he could tell that she was very sick, and she once was very beautiful. Diaz walked up to the woman and kneeled beside her, looking over her body. Her face was pale, her breathing was shallow, and there were marks on her skin, showing the skin was dying. Diaz frowned very deeply, noticing what was wrong with her. "Leave us, now." Diaz angrily said to Hohiro. When he had left the room, Diaz turned to Asagao. "She's got a very bad case of poisoning. Not a natural poison, look at how it effects her. I can heal her external wounds, the skin and the things causing her pain, but this poison is far out of my abilities. More importantly, this poison was obviously given to her... by him." Diaz looked at Asagao seriously. "I don't know if your antidote spell will work on her, but please try. And I'll keep watch on the door..."

Asagao knelt by the woman, setting his zanpakutou aside and holding the girl in front of him. "On it," he agreed, mustering his strength. "But if it's as strong as it seems, then I can't do much but slow –"

He broke off as the woman's eyes (which were green but not the rare jade hue of her daughter's) flickered open. She looked first at the girl in Asagao's arms and paled further. "Atae..." she whimpered, despair on her face, then registered that the man holding her wore a specific cut of white-trimmed black beneath his cape and hope dawned on her face.

Asagao simply nodded to her and whispered: "Cleanse the soul and body with the waters of life," the palms of his hands touching her skin where the marks were most prominent. "Chiyudo #5, Antidote." He jerked as his spirit flowed into the woman's pushing at the corruption that he could feel flowing through her blood and grunted at the exertion. A bead of sweat trailed down his face as he fought to tie the kidou into full effect.

Diaz drew his sword, a movement that seemed completely random. "Asagao, save the woman. Try to find out everything you can about her and the child." Diaz's action didn't seem so random anymore as the door burst open, and the men that they had walked with tried to enter the room. Diaz moved into their path, sword looming dangerously in front of them. "I don't think you want to do that." the sleeveless shinigami with the blue and gold bracers said, as he waved his sword slightly.

The men were stunned for a second, afraid and not sure what they should do, when Hohiro's voice screeched from behind them. "Kill the girl and take the baby already!" Two of the men tried to charge through the door, as that was all that could fit through it at once, only to be stopped by Diaz's sword, blood flowing from their chests and arms, four quick cuts to each of them laying them down on the floor, alive, but barely. Diaz stepped on one of them, leaning forward mockingly at the other men. "Anyone else want to try something?"

_Find out everything, I can?_ Asagao fumed. _Yeah, right! She's not exactly lucid at the moment and I don't think abducting her away from here to Seireitei – which might be her only chance right now – will go down very well._ With furious effort he completed the kidou, and felt the poison's bite relax slightly. It wasn't getting better, but at least it wasn't getting any worse either.

His knowledge of chiyudo wasn't enough to deal with the external wounds and it was with considerable frustration that he placed the infant girl, Atae apparently, on the woman's bedding and drew his own zanpakutou.

The walls were traditional screens and light wood. Genzoyaibano carved a gaping slash through them and the impact of his shoulder forced another opening. "What's your game," he demanded of the stunned Hohiro, who suddenly found himself with an angry Shinigami between him and any escape, with all three of his remaining bodyguards engaged against Diaz.

Diaz grinned at the three men who attacked him, stabbing his sword into the floor and letting them hit him, his spiritual pressure at full power. A clumsy punch from Diaz with his current pressure blasted one of them through the wall outside the room. A sweeping kick took down the other two, and Diaz drew his sword from the hole in the floor he made with it, stomping on the chest of one of them while levelling his sword at the other one's face, the tip about a centimetre away from his eye. "Don't even flinch." Diaz looked up at Hohiro and continued. "Inform us. Answer him."

"You can't harm me," Hohiro protested. "I'm the head of the Inginburei clan – kill me and a quarter of Rukongai will go up in flames!"

"Quarter of Rukongai is _already_ in flames," Asagao answered, and laid the point of his zanpakutou against the little weasel's belly. He wasn't going to chance staining the weapon with the flood of urine that was likely about to douse the lower body clothes of Inginburei Hohiro.

The arrogant twit dropped his sword. "You're Shinigami – you're good guys – you wouldn't really hurt an unarmed man? Would you?"

Asagao shrugged. "You were already unarmed – I just hadn't taken the half-second it would require to disarm you yet. Start talking."

Hohiro looked down at Genzoyaibano and up at Asagao, then over at Diaz. His shoulder slumped. "It's all my brother's fault," he whined. "He was like you, and nothing I did was ever good enough. Then he went off and became a Shinigami and I was heir – he couldn't inherit while he was a Shinigami. The clan was _mine_... he didn't have any right to go fathering a child to that would disinherit me!"

Lost in his own self-righteous whining, the thin man didn't see the disgusted looks that Asagao and Diaz directed at him. "I tried to persuade father not to legitimise her, but he insisted, had them marry before he died. But I fixed them – I dosed her food to make her miscarry. It would have worked perfectly if the idiot hadn't gone and died. The brat was born before the drug could take effect."

Diaz stomped on the man's chest he was standing on, knocking him totally unconscious and stepped up to the other man, kicking in the head, knocking him into blissful sleep. "So you're telling us..." Diaz slowly spoke to the man while inching up to him. "That you not only poisoned a beautiful lady, your brother's wife, but you were trying to find this child so you could kill it?" Diaz placed his sword on the man's shoulder, frowning deeply at him. "You not only lied to us, you lied to this woman, trying to kill her child. Just so you could lead some clan that nobody has even heard of before?" Diaz finished his sentence, punctuating it with his sword pommel into the man's head. "Grab the baby, I got the woman. She comes with us to the Court of Pure Souls for healing. Besides... she has spiritual energy. And, so does her child. We'll talk to her when she's well." Diaz picked up the woman and began walking past Hohiro. "What do we do about this worthless piece of junk?"

"I wouldn't soil Genzoyaibano or myself with his blood," Asagao said, lowered the weapon. He turned away, and out of the corner of his eye, saw the 'noble' relax slightly. Rather than walking away he completed the turn and drove the heel of his hand into Hohiro's face, driving his nose back into his skull. "Fortunately, that didn't spill any blood."

He turned and picked up Atae. It was a nice name, he thought. No sooner had he settled the infant back in her sling than he snapped his fingers in annoyance, "Damn – forgot to ask him about your bracers."

"Ah, it's no problem. If anyone is going to know about them, it'll be the mother." Diaz cradled the woman gently as to not aggravate her condition. "Let's hurry, we don't know how much time she has left!" Diaz quickly left the semi-noble house, contemplating setting it on fire, but changing his mind about it, knowing it may cause too much other damage. Diaz ran quickly, but not enough to jar the ill woman in his arms, back to the Court of Pure Souls and nodded to the gatekeeper as he ran past, calling that the woman was sick and she needed medical attention.

Diaz and Asagao ran through the town, carefully examining each path to make sure that they would not get lost on the way to the healing divisions headquarters. Diaz, getting sick of not being able to see where he was going, jumped on top of one of the walls and began running along it to the healing division. Arriving there, a few odd looks were given as someone from Rukongai is not often seen in the Court of Pure Souls. Diaz spoke fast to the woman behind the desk. "This woman is ill with a poison, we stopped its movement but she needs immediate help! It's important she lives, her infant baby needs her!" Diaz was relieved when the woman behind the desk nodded, and called for the chiyudo specialists.

Asagao held Atae gently in his arms as he watched the experts work on the stricken woman. He could only admire the level of kidou that they could use. She was very weak though, so very weak.

The medical specialist looked up at them. "Which of you used the chiyudo on her?"

Asagao nodded his head to identify himself as the culprit.

"You did a good job, but with such a low level kidou you may have been too late," the man advised.

Diaz looked over to Asagao, and looked back to the man. "Sadly, while my kidou is a bit better than his, I don't know how to neutralize poisons. So I had to do the fighting while he had to do the healing, opposite it usually is." Diaz chuckled a bit. "How long until she wakes up? We're going to need to talk to her about some things."

The man doing the healing looked up, frowning at Diaz. "We're trying our best, you're just going to have to wait for us to finish. Stop interrupting us." Diaz apologized and back up to where Asagao was standing.

After a few minutes of waiting, Atae began to howl. Asagao lifted her up, sniffed and then claimed a side room to change her nappy. A few minutes later he found that he had a small audience of young female shinigami all wanting to help with 'his' baby. Slightly unnerved he carried Atae back into the main room, giving her a little more milk once she had calmed down.

The medic approached him almost immediately. "I'm going to need some details from you about the patient," he said firmly. "What's her name."

Asagao shook his head. "I'm not sure. She's the widow of a Shinigami called Inginburei apparently. She was poisoned by her brother-in-law apparently."

The man gave an odd look at Asagao, frowning. "You brought a woman here without knowing who she was?"

Diaz interjected, "She's a woman who was poisoned by her brother in law, there was nothing we could do there. Besides, she's semi-noble and the widow of a shinigami. I'm sure we could look up some records about her husband." The man nodded, calling one of the female shinigami over and whispering to her to go look up a male shinigami named Inginburei.

The female shinigami was gone for a few minutes, and then came back, whispering to the male shinigami some information. The man nodded and turned to Asagao and Diaz, ready to speak.

The medic shook his head. "Always the interesting ones," he mutters. "We don't have any record of a shinigami by that name."

Asagao groaned. "Well _that_ figures" he sighed. "I'm having one of those days."

"I hope that this isn't some sort of prank," the shinigami demands.

"If so then it's on us," Asagao replied. "However it happened, we had a poisoned woman on our hands and we had to do _something_."

The medic nodded. "Well, you got that part right at least," he agreed. "Okay, I'll log her in under your authority – such as it is. You can explain it to your captain yourself though."

Diaz frowned again, now worried about what's going on. He glanced to Asagao, and then quickly turned his attention back to the woman. _Who are you? Who is this baby and who was your husband?_ Diaz, keeping his attention on the woman, spoke to Asagao. "At least she should be alright, we won't have to deal with the kid, and when she wakes up we'll find out everything we need to know from her." Diaz paused, continuing a few seconds later. "She does have spiritual powers, so if she wants, we can have her enrolled in the shinigami academy."

The healer walked back up to the two again, nodding to them, taking his gloves off. "We've done all we could, now it's up to her." Diaz bowed to the man, saying "Thank you" and turned back to Asagao. "So now, we wait."

"Actually," Asagao said mildly. "I _do_ have to look after the kid. She's not an orphan and her mother's here on my responsibility, so _Atae's_ my responsibility as well. Oh well," he sighed. "It's not like she's that bad a kid."

Leaving details of how Asagao could be contacted once the woman awoke, the pair left the medical station, Asagao once again concealing the baby underneath his cloak. The sun was still high in the sky as they walked through Seireitei. "So," the blond shinigami asked. "How do you propose we make a report of this to our captains?"

Diaz stopped in his tracks. "You have a point, there is really no good way of saying this to our captains. Diega Torres is your captain... you're going to have a hard time explaining why one of her 'Heavy Combat' people has to watch over a kid while fighting, and I, have to explain my actions to the Commander-General. This is a fine bind you've gotten us into this time."

Diaz walked slowly with Asagao. "We'll take the kid back to your house, at least." Diaz began to follow Asagao back to his house. "I don't want to get lost... again... so you lead us back."

"Okay," Asagao agreed. "And since we now have to assume that that idiot was lying to us, we can't be sure that someone is still after little Atae – so I'd better keep a close eye on her." He guided Diaz into the Eleventh Division's section of Seireitei and through a couple of deserted courtyards, taking a circuitous route to his room.

Located on the ground floor of a building, the little room was stone walled, unlike most of the elaborate wood and paper Japanese architecture of most habitable rooms in Seireitei. It was also quite spartan, with a small dresser, a sword rack and a futon for Asagao, the whole room being less than three yards long and perhaps two metres wide.

Diaz stopped at the entrance of the room. Asagao looked at him, slightly confused. "Take care of the child, I'll be back as soon as I can." Diaz departed the room with that, not waiting for a reply, heading directly to the first division's headquarters, stopping to get some information on where the databanks of all shinigami records were. Finding out they could be found in the library, Diaz dashed there as fast as he could.

Arriving at the library, Diaz saw his friend, Saori, behind the desk again. Marching up to her quickly, Diaz asked her, "Where can I find the records of all the shinigami in the recent years?" Saori smiled gently at him, noticing that he seemed nervous and lead him to the recent books on Shinigami, alphabetically organized. Scanning for the book that started with "I", Diaz found it and pulled it out with Saori standing next to him.

Diaz opened the book and scanned through the book, looking for the name he wanted. 'Inginburei'. Arriving at the 'In' section, Diaz found Ineu, Inferu, Ingento, Ingiaru, and then there was a blacked out line, and below it was the name, 'Ingirure'. Turning to Saori, Diaz asked why the line was blacked out. "I don't know." she replied sheepishly, "I've never seen anything like that before." Nodding his thanks to her, Diaz left the library.

Returning the exact path that he took to get from Asagao's house to the library, Diaz took the long way back to Asagao's house. Diaz entered Asagao's house and spoke to him about what he'd found out at the library, about the blacked out line where Inginburei would have been. "So, what do you think?"

"It could just be a coincidence," Asagao said, then shrugged at the look Diaz shot him. "I agree that it's probably not, but it _could_ be. Still..."

Passing Atae to Diaz, who looked down at her uncomfortably, Asagao scratched at his beard, thinking through the possibilities. "Okay – either Inginburei was a Shinigami or he wasn't. If he was, there would have to be some reason why records of him have been erased. He was supposed to have died quite recently so probably someone would have known him. If he wasn't a Shinigami, then why did his brother tell me that he was? I was a bit premature in killing him, I think. And in either case, why did Atae have those bracers in her – and what power does she retain?"

Diaz sat down with the baby in his arms. "First off, why did you hand this kid to me? Secondly, if the name that was crossed out was the man we were looking for, then there is definitely something fishy going on. If that name wasn't the one we were looking for than it was one major coincidence. The bracers will be a mystery, and I still don't know the full extent of their power. They seem to increase my movement and my kidou abilities... but I don't know." Diaz stared at the child in his arms before handing it back to the other man. "We really need to figure out what's happening here, and to do that, we need that woman to wake up."

"Firstly, I think better with my hands free," Asagao replied, accepting Atae back. "Secondly, I agree that we need to figure out what's up. But unless you think we can do more about that than the experts back there, I really don't think that we're going to be able to do more than wait for that."

There was a hammering at the door and Asagao crossed to open it. The medical expert from before was standing outside, a worried look on his face. "The patient you just left with us died a few minutes ago," he said soberly. "And there was something profoundly strange as to how she did it."

He raised a sheathed katana – the scabbard black and the red-wrapped hilt ending in a pommel shaped like a dragon's head. Moments after she died, her remains transformed into this. I don't suppose that you might have any idea why that might be?"

Diaz walked to the door and bowed courteously to the man. Asagao closed the door after Diaz had taken the sword from the man and brought it inside. Diaz held it in his hands gently, frowning deeply at the man. "I'm not sure what this means, but..." Diaz pulled the sword out of the sheath completely, looking at the sword, which was about the same length as his, had a similar feel. "This sword is not just a normal sword. This..." Diaz frowned, flicking his wrist and angling the blade so that he could see his eyes in it. "Is a zanpakutou."

Diaz resheathed the sword and tossed it to Asagao, who examined the sword while holding the baby, and nodded his agreement, passing the sword back to Diaz. "I think that this sword might have something to do with the bracers. Do you mind if I hold onto it for now? I might be able to do some research by using the power of the bracers with it."

Asagao chewed on his lower lip for a moment then nodded his head. "Okay," he said. "But just for a little while. It's not really ours after all. If it's anyone s then it's Atae's – even if she is a little small for her yet."

That factor didn't seem to bother the little girl, who had been squirming in Asagao's arms since the sword entered the room and had by now managed to turn around to see the weapon and was reaching for it with both her tiny hands. She couldn't possibly have held the zanpakutou – her fingers wouldn't even close around it, but nonetheless there seemed to be something that drew her to it.

"Perhaps we should let her touch the hilt," Asagao said thoughtfully. "It might... well it might recognise her if it's connected to her parents somehow."

Diaz brought the sword to the child, letting the baby touch the hilt. A bright, blue light surrounded the three people there, sucking back into the sword, and from the sword travelled down into Diaz's bracers, causing the kanji on the back of them to glow brightly. "What the... ahh!" Diaz suddenly dropped the sword, Asagao being quick enough to jump back away from the clattering weapon as Diaz clutched his head in pain, the sword and bracers both glowing now. Diaz vaguely heard Asagao asking Diaz what was going on, but Diaz couldn't hear him clearly, seeing the woman standing in front of him in his mind.

"You and your friend saved me and the child, I thank you very much." the woman spoke softly, her looks no longer ill, just her in her natural state. "The story was wrong, and I was not the man you were seeking's wife. I am the spirit of his sword."

Diaz's mind began to clear as he began to understand. "Those bracers, they're his, weren't they?" The woman nodded to Diaz, confirming that the bracers were indeed the late shinigami's possession. "That child, she is... special, and so is this sword." Diaz noticed the woman began to fade from his mind, she said another thing before vanishing completely. "Hold on to me as a favour to him." Diaz nodded, the pain totally receding from his mind. Standing up again, Diaz picked up the sword and held it in front of him, looking at Asagao.

"The woman was the sword. She's the spirit of the soul cutter. These bracers are from the late shinigami. They were his. I suppose that when the child touched the blade, the blade, bracers and the child all resonated. Since I was the only one of the two who could understand, and I was wearing these, the sword entered my mind. I'll keep this blade safe." Diaz tucked the sword into his belt next to Noukonkaze. "I'll try to figure out what this means. I think I can use the bracers to communicate with the sword." Diaz looked to the child. "What will you do with the girl?"

Asagao shrugged and settled Atae down on his rolled futon, looking down at her. "I'll figure something out," he said. "I'll look after her myself until I can find a family to take her in. And I'll have to pick that family very carefully – I have a feeling that she's not entirely out of danger yet. Still, I know a few families out there that can put up a formidable defence if they have to." He grinned nastily. "And if the Captain has concerns then she can lump it – one of the virtues is supposed to be loyalty after all so she can hardly expect me to abandon the brat."

He scratched one finger nail gently through the little girl's silky black hair, feeling her purr gently against his shirt. "You've had such an adventurous day and the sun's not even set yet," he mused, half to himself. "I wonder... will we be a little part of your story someday, just as you are a little part of ours now?"

.oOo.

Asagao was looking a little sleepy as he opened to door to one of the dojos in the 11th Division's district. Obviously, Atae's presence in his room wasn't doing anything for his sleep patterns, but he'd been able to arrange for one of the younger Shinigami who'd been oohing and aahing over her earlier to look after the baby girl for the day, giving Asagao an opportunity to spar with Diaz before he got started with the day's labours.

Diaz had woken up early to head over to the 11th division's area of Seireitei so he could spar with his friend, Chousen Asagao. Diaz had been anticipating the next time they'd spar since they went different ways the first time they did it. Doing a few missions with his friend also brightened his spirits, making him even happier about sparing. Opening the door to the dojo that they were scheduled to meet at, Diaz was not surprised that Asagao had been waiting for him, having arrived first. "Hey, Asagao!" Diaz called out in a happy tone.

"'morning," said Asagao, stretching his arms. "How're you doing?" he asked, opening another panel at the side of the dojo to let in more light. He noticed that it was the same dojo where he'd managed to beat Genzentaru and hoped it was a good omen - he could feel the spiritual pressue from Diaz and it had skyrocketed over the last few weeks.

Diaz grinned at Asagao. "I'm doing well. Had trouble sleeping last night in anticipation of our spar." Diaz got a closer look at Asagao, smirking a little bit more. "Seems like you had some trouble sleeping too, if I'm not mistaken." Diaz laughed. "Are you ready or do you need some more time?"

"Feh!" Asagao snorted. "As if I've never had to fight when I've slept poorly!" He grinned. "No excuses, I admit Atae kept me up a bit but I'll be going all out. Gotta see what you've got, flexing those kidou muscles of yours or whatever."

Walking over to the rack of practise weapons against the wall he picked up a pair of wooden swords, examined them and then extended the hilts towards Diaz for the other Shinigami to take his pick. "Let's not use out zanpakutou this time, eh? I got yelled at for that last time."

Diaz frowned as he grabbed a wooden sword from Asagao. _Feh, I wanted to have a real fight, not some wimpy fight with toys.I Fuzenkan whispered in Diaz's mind, the part that he'd released so far. "Afraid of using real swords, eh Asagao? Very well, I'll fight you with this toy." Diaz removed Noukonkaze and the other, nameless sword from his belt and put them on the side of the room, on one of the sword racks. Diaz stepped back and walked to the center of the room, opposite side of Asagao and placed his sword over his shoulder. "I'm ready whenever you are." Diaz smiled at Asagao._

"Afraid?" Asagao chuckled. "May I remind you iwhich of us made it to the aid station under their own power last time we fought?" He placed his own zanpakutou on the rack and walked over to face Diaz, eyes merry. "I just don't want to have to fix another uniform - blunt trauma isn't as messy."

He held out the sword, point aimed directly at the ceiling, fist aimed directly at Diaz' throat. "Well? Shall we begin?"

"Sure." Diaz said simply, sliding his sword off his shoulder and using his shyunpo to appear about thirteen feet ahead of where he was standing, in range of slashing at Asagao. Diaz slashed downwards from the upper right side, noticing that he definately surprised Asagao with his shyunpo's distance and speed. Grinning while he brought the sword down, "Fast enough for you, Asagao?!"

"Fuck!" Asagao exclaimed, shocked by the sudden attack. He was skilled enough to have begun parrying even before his brain was done processing the shyunpo, but he wasn't fast enough or strong enough to stop the blow, only to divert it from his shoulder to his upper arm. Upper left arm, fortunately, since he was right handed and it wouldn't impede him much - however much it hurt.

However, he was still in the fight and since the distance was close enough he lunged in at Diaz, hoping that his own hohou would be enough at these close ranges. He flicked his sword three times at the other shinigami's face - aiming for both cheeks and the forehead, but they were only cover for the movement of his hips that preluded a side kick targeted below the ribs at point-blank range.

Diaz wasn't ready for the counter attack so quickly, figuring his strike would have done a bit more damage, at least to stun the other man. Seeing the sword flying towards his face, Diaz's reflex reaction was to step back, not quite making it out of range of all of them, catching one strike in his left check, spinning his head with the attack while moving back, Diaz was lucky the blow wasn't strong enough to knock out any teeth, but he wasn't prepared for the kick that caught him in the ribs, knocking his breath out, not really by power, but by surprise.

Diaz turned back to face Asagao, grinning as he struck back, not using his full speed as he stepped into Asagao's range and back out of it, throwing weak strikes at him. "You're good, Asagao! Not even stunned by my strike! Nice!" Diaz kept darting in and out, throwing quick weak strikes at Asagao's arms, legs and torso.

Asagao didn't reply, keeping his eyes fixed on Diaz as he parried the strikes efficiently, not trying to dodge since it was already obvious that he didn't have the speed to do so effectively. Fortunately for him, with Diaz holding back his full strength it was easy for him to parry each of the strikes efficiently – whatever improvement the other Shinigami had made, his actual swordsmanship hadn't improved much at all. Without even a change of expression to give a moment's warning, Asagao blocked one of the low strikes with his left arm, not his sword – it was about the only use he'd get out of the limb for a little while, it felt as if there was a hairline fracture above the elbow and the lower arm didn't feel much better after taking the strike. Following up, he snapped his practise sword at Diaz' fingers around his swordhilt and then flicked the weapon around and thrust at the other Shinigami's upper chest.

Diaz was surprised when Asagao used his left hand, thinking that he'd taken it out for the fight, and that surprise allowed Asagao to snap his fingers with his sword, causing Diaz to lose control of them for a second, dropping the sword as he got hit in the chest, which pushed him back a step, not really hurting. "Well, you made me drop my sword! I don't know if that's good or bad for you though!" Diaz called out as he used shyunpo again, this time away from Asagao at his max distance of around thirteen feet.

Diaz raised his left hand and whispered quietly. "Dominator! Mask of flesh and blood. All living beings. Flutter of wings. That which has the name human! Truth and temperance, slightly imbed your claws into the walls of innocent dreams. Hadou #33, Soukatsui!" Diaz fired the flat projectile from his left hand at Asagao, following the blast at Asagao, not shyunpoing, just running. Diaz grabbed his sword and using a real shyunpo to get out of the way of the explosion moments before it hit.

The use of kidou wasn't exactly a surprise to Asagao – he knew that Diaz was more accomplished in them than he was. And unfortunately, neither of the two chiyudo that he did know would heal the injuries to his left arm. Ah well. Rather than sitting and waiting for the hadou to hit him – which would be rather painful – he used a shyunpo to dodge aside, leaving the way open for Diaz to retreive his weapon. He did wince as the wall exploded under the impact of Soukatsui – that would take a bit of repairing.

Their respective dodges had moved them across to the other end of the dojo, the angle of Diaz' move meaning that they still more or less faced each other. Figuring that one kidou deserved another, Asagao forced his left arm up, bracing it with his right wrist and muttered: "Remove me from sight, blind their eyes. Do not allow this foe to hit their mark. Bougyoudo #3, Blue Mist." As blue smoke filled the dojo between them, he leapt up towards the rafters that supported the roof.

Diaz was surprised slightly by the use of kidou, but got over it quickly, as it was a remarkably low level one. Diaz grinned as he dashed into the blue mist, smirking as he knew that Asagao wouldn't be able to see him, either. Diaz stood in the middle of the smoke as it began to vanish after 10 seconds. Diaz caught some movement out of the corner of his eye, noticing Asagao descending on him from the rafters.

Diaz grinned at Asagao's falling form at him, calling "How cunning!" as Asagao's strike met ground, Diaz sidestepping it barely, the gravity that Asagao had used to propell his attack almost making the speed equal. Diaz thanked the Kaze no Sodekuchi he wore on his wrists as he brought the hilt of his sword in a smashing movement at the back of Asagao's head, hoping to knock him out and end the fight.

This move was hampered ever so slightly by the fact that Asagao had released his sword a moment before it hit the ground and his right hand snaked out to grab hold of Diaz's ankle, twisted and then jerked it violently upwards and forwards, throwing off the other Shinigami's balance and throwing the strike significantly off target. The practise sword still smacked into Asagao with considerable force, and bounced his head off the floor, bloodying his nose and jaw, but he gamely hung on and flipped onto his side, drawing up his legs in preparation to turn the fight into a wrestling match.

_Shit! I can't let him turn this into a fight with no movement, I'll lose that way!_ Diaz fell backwards as Asagao tried to turn the fight into a wrestling match. _Try this!_ Diaz thought angrily as he release his spiritual pressure to the maximum as he swung his sword down at Asagao's wrist.

_That's predicatable,_ Asagao noted, releasing his grip and retracting his hand out of the path of the weapon, which crashed into the floor, ripping through the mat and doing considerable damage to the wooden floor underneath. No sooner had the sword struck, than, Asagao replaced his hand. But this time, rather than holding Diaz' ankle, it was holding the taller shinigami's sword against the floor and very quickly was pressing down with all of Asagao's weight as he kicked off his legs from the floor and somersaulted into the air, twisting to come down with both sandalled heels descending towards Diaz' ribcage like twinned hammers.

Diaz expected the evasion of the strike, but wasn't ready for the sword to be grabbed. "Too bad, Asagao! I don't have a problem with dropping my sword!" Diaz released the sword and rolled to the side, the attack barely grazing his clothing. Diaz continued the roll and pushed off the ground with one hand, dashing in and grabbing Asagao's wooden sword that he'd dropped, and used shyunpo to get some distance again.

"Dominator! Mask of flesh and blood. All living beings. Flutter of wings. That which has the name human! Truth and temperance, slightly imbed your claws into the walls of innocent dreams. Hadou #33, Soukatsui!" Diaz fired another one of the blasts he fired earlier at Asagao, who was holding the blade of a sword, not the handle and dashed in again, intent on attacking in the opening that Asagao would undoubtedly leave when he dodged Soukatsui.

Asagao landed squarely on both feet, precisely where Diaz had been a moment before. Whirling to face the kidou-user, he saw him shyunpo back out of easy range and unleash the same hadou as before. Sliding one leg out from under him and folding the otherup against his ribs, he dropped to the ground, left arm grating against the damaged floor and right hand sliding up the practise sword to the hilt, and he felt the soukatsui slice through the air barely an inch above his head to blast another whole in the dojo wall. Asagao was fast enough to block the follow up attack, but he wasn't strong enough to _stop_ it and all his parry managed was to keep him more or less intact as he was smashed back across the dojo floor and created a third hole in the wall. This one was shinigami-shaped he noted in surprise as he lay on his back in the grassy lane between the dojo and it's neighbour, watching the little birdies circle his head.

Diaz dropped his sword, knowing the fight was over and walked over to Asagao and knelt besides him. "Good fight, my friend." He whispered as he raised his hand. Diaz chanted the incantation to Seimei Bifuu, the highest level healing spell he could use at the moment. "Imbue the body with the purest of the air, cover its wounds and cool its soul... Chiyudo #50, Seimei Bifuu." Diaz let the wind heal both him and Asagao, before letting it die down. Diaz nodded to Asagao as they retrieved their swords and thanked eachother for the good fight.

.oOo.

Chousen Asagao was whistling a jaunty tune as he strolled through the streets of Seireitei. The sun was out and it was another glorious sunny day in the Soul Society. In addition to Atae riding in a sling at his side and a bag of supplies for her, he had a scroll thrust through his sash - a scroll that he thought might be the solution to some of the mysteries around the little girl.

Upon his arrival, he pounded his fist a couple of times on the door to Diaz' house. "Hey, Diaz!" he called out. "Open the door, it's me - Asagao!"

Diaz yawned as he heard a banging on the door to his quarters. "Yeah yeah, I'm coming, hold your horses!" Diaz yelled back as he grabbed his two swords and tightened up his hakama and slid his bracers on to his wrists, feeling them increase his spiritual pressure again.

Diaz opened the door, seeing Asagao and Atae on the other side of it. "Okay then, shall we be off?" Diaz said as he walked outside, closing the door. _I wonder what he wants this time, he just told me he was coming over with the kid and I needed to come with him._

Asagao nodded and gestured the direction they would be going. "I've got a little lead on Atae's family," he explained as they set out in the general direction (so far) of the centre of Seireitei. He pulled out the scroll and handed it over. "Apparently the clan's originally from Northern Rukongai - that's why no one knows much about them. Some of them moved here a generation or two back but the bulk of them should still be living up there."

Diaz grinned at Asagao. "So it looks like we're going to Northern Rukongai, eh? I handled a group of runaway shinigami up there, they were trying to escape to Hueco Mundo to become Vaizards...I learned a new ability, maybe you'll see it..." Diaz winked at Asagao as the two of them worked their way through the Court of Pure Souls towards the Northern Exit, entrance to North Rukongai. "Well, hopefully not, really. Anyways, let's try to find out as much as we can about the girl and sword." Diaz lifted up the nameless sword he carried on his belt. "I don't know...this is a very weird situation." Diaz paused. "I spoke to Captain Kyin Fenre about this when he was working on my bracers. He said he'd never heard of anything like this before."

"Yeah," Asagao looked troubled. "I don't recall ever hearing about zanpakutou surviving the deaths of their wielders. The only theory that I've come up with so far is that somehow she has a connection to her daughter and is surviving due to that."

He glanced around. "The Inginburei lands are pretty far out though - perhaps we should pick up the pace a little. Central Seireitei's a bit of a maze at the best of times and it's usually crowded at this time of day." With that he leapt up onto the wall to one side of the road that they were following and began roof-hopping northwards.

Diaz jumped up on the roof following Asagao, nodding. "Yeah, I hate this place. Why is designed like a maze? It's not like we're getting any invasions lately. And even if we did, what would it do? They'd probably just crush the damn maze as they rampaged through the Seireitei." Diaz laughed to Asagao as they moved through the city. "Do you have any idea which district the family is in?" Diaz asked as he kept pace with Asagao. _I hope it's not too far back, I really hate the sleezier districts of Rukongai._ Diaz remembered well living in Rukongai, and remembered traveling to the 50th district quite recently, neither of which were happy memories.

Asagao chuckled and Atae giggled along with him. "I couldn't tell you about Seireitei - I'm old but not old enough to remember when it was laid out," he said. "However, the Inginburei live or lived out in the seventy-second district."

He grinned wider at the disppointment on Diaz's face. "I wouldn't worry about it," he assured the younger man. "With all the mountains up north there aren't any real slums like those you'd find in the other directions."

Diaz frowned very deeply. "I hate the later districts. It's going to take us quite some time to get out there, and then we have to deal with all the crap out there, and then we have to walk all the way back? My life really stinks." Diaz complained loudly. "Oh well, I guess we don't have much of a choice. Let's find out something about the kid!" Diaz said to Asagao as they reached the Northern Gate to Rukongai. Waving to the guards and entering the first district, Diaz and Asagao quickly began travelling through the districts, trying to save time. "I did bring some energy pills and elixirs of restoration, if we get too tired." Diaz commented.

Asagao shook his head in mock disbelief. "Some people," he said with feigned solemnity, "would complain if they were killed with golden knife. Look around you," he insisted. "It's a _lovely_ day for a little hike. What do you want? One of those audo... audomobells that humans have? We'll get there as fast as anyone could."

Diaz laughed at Asagao's implication. "No, it doesn't really bother me as much as it seems. I hate New York much more than this." Diaz laughed louder, drawing a bit of attention from the crowd around him. "Ah, woops." Diaz looked downward for a few seconds, speeding up a bit. "Let's hurry this up, Asagao!" Diaz called as they made the switch into the second district. "So, what exactly do we call these people? Semi-Noble, or something else?" Diaz made some small talk to try to avoid a boring trip.

"I doubt that they'll claim to be anything of the kind," Asagao replied. "There isn't really anyone up there for them to lord over, after all. Most likely they're just an isolated community - there's not much room for nonsense like that up north. The main problem is likely to be getting them to talk to us at all. The clans up there are, well, clannish. They're a long way from anyone else because they want to stay away from everyone else for one reason or another."

They were already reaching the edge of the thin belt of city that lay between Seireitei and the mountains of Northern Rukongai. From here, the sprawling metropolis was replaced with occasional villages - most of them lightly fortified.

Diaz nodded to Asagao. "Yeah, and generally, the further you go out there you get, the less loved we shinigami are." Diaz frowned. "However, hopefully, since one of their clansmen became a shinigami, they won't hate us so much. Of course, we could end up being in the exact opposite situation. Because he's dead, they might blame us and hate us even more because of that."

Diaz and Asagao passed through another district, both thinking about what was going to happen. "Maybe, if anything, the child will help us convince them that we mean no harm."

Asagao shrugged. "It's hard to predict," he agreed. "A lot of those in the north will have fought in the Great Hollow War, alongside Shinigami and Quinceys. Sometimes that leaves a bond and sometimes they think that they can get along just fine with out any of us. I've no idea how the Inginburei feel though."

Opening his bag he took out a sausage and bit off a mouthful before offering it to Diaz. "Want any?"

"No, I'm okay." Diaz kindly refused the offer, pulling out a small apple. "I'd rather eat some fruit," Diaz grinned, rubbing it on his robes, cleaning it. Taking a bite, Diaz smiled. "This is much better, you see." Diaz and Asagao passed through another district of Rukongai. "Notice, as we get further, you can easily see the quality of life dropping. It's really sad, anyways." Diaz frowned as he finished the apple he was eating and tossed the core into one of the bins of trash on the street. "Let's just hope that these people are not against shinigami, it would make this much more difficult."

"Granted," Asagao admitted. "But there's nothing we can do about it, we'll just have to deal with them as we find them, so why worry about it?" He took another bite out of his sausage and chewed on it for a moment. "So," he said, changing the subject. "Who do you think the new Captains will be once all the testing going on at the moment is finished? It doesn't affect me much, but I think you said that you were looking to join the medical specialists – that would be the Third Division, wouldn't it?"

"Yeah, the medical specialist team will be the third division. However, I've found that I'm not just good at Chiyudo, I'm pretty good with all types of Kidou. So I actually plan on joining the 5th Division, the kidou division lead by Yukiko-taicho. I hope to become the Vice Captain." Diaz grinned at Asagao. "I'm trying my best, anyways." Diaz paused. "You going to stay in the 11th? There are many new division specialists coming out."

Asagao nodded. "The Eleventh Division seems to suit me quite well," he said. "I haven't seen all that much of Captain Diega, but she's got a fair amount of trouble on her plate at the moment after that mess with the Keigun. I don't suppose that I'll be Vice-Captain anytime soon either but that suits me well enough – less paperwork and more time to go out and get things done. And being in the Heavy Combat specialists is definitely going to get me a lot of hands-on-experience."

"I never thought of you like a battle hungry crazed bastard." Diaz jested to Asagao. "Oh well, it doesn't matter." Diaz and Asagao went through another district, the poverty slightly growing with each one. "Even at the speed we're going at, its still going to take us far too long to get there. Let's speed it up a bit." Diaz called to Asagao as he started moving a bit faster, his maroon hair blowing in the wind behind him.

With a grin, the bearded shinigami matched the pace being set. He wasn't as fast as Diaz when going flat out, and his endurance wasn't quite so great, but pride would keep him going long enough at this pace. He hoped. There were few buildings now and few other travellers to worry about so they raced up the slopes and along valleys as the mountains reared up around them.

Asagao knew the road fairly well - he'd travelled it more than once before over the decades between the war and his entrance into the Spirit Academy. He'd never actually visited the valley that was their destination, but he had been near it several times. The sun was past it's zenith and he'd worked up an honest sweat by the time he spotted the landmark he was looking for, a stand of pine trees standing alone on a low plateau ahead of them. Atae squealed with delight as the Shinigami turned and skidded down a steep scree, sandal heels leaving a trail of dust and sliding pebbles behind him. "We're almost there," he called over the rush of wind past them.

Diaz grinned at Asagao as the two of them slid down the hill towards their destination. "I don't know this area very well, so I guess I'll be following you from now on." Diaz said over the howl of the wind as the two made four lines of dirt kicking up as they skidded down the mountain side. "So, what is your plan of attack, Asagao?" Diaz asked the other man.

"Well I was thinking I'd start by asking them politely what they know about their cousins down south," Asagao replied. "Ask them to put their heads together. And if that doesn't work, we can smash our way in and put their heads together ourselves. Tact, delicacy and a big stick, if you know what I mean, and I think that you do," Asagao said, scrambling up the other side of the valley they'd descended into. "They should be just over the other side of the ridge, if I'm reading the directions correctly," he added

Diaz nodded and began heading up towards the ridge and down the other side. "Whoa." Diaz said, shocked. "Hey Asagao, look at this!" Diaz called to his partner, looking down at the small city that was on the side of the mountain, funneling all the way to the valley at the bottom. "I didn't think they would have this many people or this much land. I wonder where we should start?" Diaz smiled at Asagao. "I'll follow your lead, this time.

Asagao paused to look down the valley and frowned, pulling out the scroll he'd brought with him. "It doesn't mention anything on this scale here," he said in surprise. "But according to this they should live more or less..." he trailed, off, pointing down at one corner of the small city and began to curse in several languages.

The corner he was indicating was dominated by several large buildings, most of which had been gutted by fire. The exceptions had been simply gutted, torn upen by some terrible force. There was no smoke but Asagao knew that if they had been like that for more than a few days, they would be being rebuilt or torn down for the construction materials - decent land and stout timbers were not something likely to be wasted in these lands.

"Holy crap! They've been attacked?" Diaz called out to the shocked Asagao, jumping off their perch on the ledge and heading down towards the buildings. "Maybe there were some survivors!" Diaz called to Asagao as they ran straight towards the buildings that were burnt and torn. Arriving at the buildings, Diaz kneeled at the ground, placing his hand down on it. "The ground is cold. These fires probably weren't today, or they died down sometime during the night. What do you think, Asagao?"

Asagao eyed the the blackened timbers with a practised eye. "A few days," he concluded. "Half a week, perhaps. No longer. We can find out from their neighbours no doubt." He looked around. "Can you see any signs of who might have done this?"

The arrival of two Shingami had not gone unnoticed, and a pair of men carrying quarterstaffs walked into the ruined compound within a few moments of their arrival, the men's movement sfull of confidence. "Who are you?" asked the older of the pair. "What are you doing here?"

Diaz stood up from his kneeling position of examining the soil and turned to the two men who were standing behind him. "My name is Kokuei, Diaz. And this here," Diaz pointed to Asagao. "Is Chousen Asagao." Diaz narrowed his eyes and looked at the two men. "And as for why we're here, we're looking for the family that used to live in this compound. What happened here and when?" Diaz questioned them, noticing the looks that they were shooting back and forth. "Well? I traveled a long way to find these people, only to find that their building has been destroyed. What happened?"

"This is the Inginburei compund, isn't it?" Asagao asked calmly.

The younger man nodded. "You're right, it is. Or, at least, it was. Are you two Shinigami?" At Asagao's nod the two guards relaxed. Slightly. "We don't know exactly what happened, but we're fairly sure that it was a Hollow. We keep a guard on the approachs and one of them was killed the same night that this happened - three nights ago," he clarified.

"So far as we can tell," the older man said, "the Hollow killed her, then smashed it's way in. The Inginburei tried to fight back - they kept a decent magazine of explosives here - but by the time we could get any sort of organised response together the Hollow was gone and we had to concentracte on stopping the fires from spreading."

His eyes narrowed. "I think it's our turn for questions. Why are a couple of Shinigami... and a babe-in-arms!" he added, pointing to Atae. "...visiting the Inginburei all of a sudden?"

"One of their family members, a brother of someone living in Southern Rukongai, was a shinigami. He left behind this baby and this sword." Diaz lifted up the sword that he carried. "The other brother, the one who was not a shinigami was trying to kill his own brother's family so he could be to heir to the family. We came here to find out more information on the whole story. However, if there is a hollow here... then it's our duty to purify it." Diaz frowned. _A hollow that is strong enough to make it into Soul Society. I dislike this. It sounds very similar to the Great Hollow war._ Diaz glanced over to Asagao, his eyes expressing his concerns with the situation. "We need all the information you can give us."

The older of the two man snorted. "The two of you think you can manage to deal with a Hollow that took down an entire clan before we could respond? I wish you luck!" He turned to the younger man. "Tell them what you can," he says before leaving.

Asagao raised one eyebrow. "He may underestimate us. Even so, anything you can tell us would help. Were there any survivors?"

The young man shook his head. "No, everyone was dead. The Hollow must have been pretty thorough about this. All the Inginburei were here that night, even the ones who lived elsewhere. There was a party for a visitor I think, although we didn't find a stranger among the dead."

"Do you think that this could have been a trap?" Diaz asked the younger man who turned to face him.

"Honestly, I don't know. It could have been."

Diaz frowned, thinking to himself. "Did anyone see the hollow that did this?" Diaz asked a second question.

"No, there was nothing left by the time we'd gotten here."

Diaz frowned again, deeper. "I see... Asagao, I think this may have been a trap. Why would a hollow attack instantly, the night that all of the clan had gathered, escaping without anyone even seeing it." Diaz turned back to the man. "Was anyone seen fleeing the battlescene?" Diaz asked, his voice cold and serious. The man seemed nervous, but didn't answer. "Nobody?"

"Nobody was seen," the man said. "We were all too busy keeping the city from burning down around us to pay attention to anyone leaving. But we haven't found the Hollow, so it must have left - probably the same way that it came. The guard who died was on the eastern approach - it's a narrow pass."

Asagao frowned. "Do you have any idea who the visitor could have been?" he asked. "Someone from far away I suppose?"

"I don't know who exactly," the guard said. "But you're right. One of them mentioned the day before that they were expecting a guest from the south. I don't know if their guest even arrived though."

Diaz turned to Asagao. "Thank you, sir. We'll try to handle it from here. I assume you'll be in the town if we need more information?" The man nodded and said a simple "Yes" before leaving. "Asagao. I think that the culprit was not a hollow, but that man we left alive. Well, I don't remember if you killed him, but I only injured him, he was left alive." Diaz frowned, looking to Asagao for his recollection.

Asagao shook his head. "He's dead Diaz. I killed him with my bare hands. And even if he wasn't, do you really think that that snivelling worm would be capbable of carnage on this scale? But I agree. That guest was almost certainly involved in this. They invited him, and when he was done killing them he must have fled east, killing the guard to avoid any witnesses. He probably came from that direction as well."

Diaz nodded to Asagao. The implication was obvious. "Then, shall we be heading east?" Diaz pointed out the obvious to Asagao, who simply nodded back to Diaz. The pair of shinigami headed towards the east path, which followed the bottom of the valley. There was only one guard post there, since it would be difficult to miss anyone coming down the barren mountain sides or the bottom of valley. A guard was standing watch, not alone, but with a few friends. "I see, they must have placed more guards on duty today, and every day since the incident. This town seems to be a close knit group of people, living this far out, and near the shoddy districts, they must have many issues." Diaz pointed out to Asagao. "Let's go see if they know anything that the other man didn't know."

Their sudden arrival surprised the little group, who were understandably jumpy and hadn't yet heard of the presence of Shinigami within the town. Once calmed – and the fact that Asagao was carrying an infant did a great deal to make him look harmless – they were able to point out where their comrade had been found.

"She was torn up," said one man. "And it looked more like she'd been bitten than cut with a weapon. Are you sure you'll be able to catch up? It was three days ago."

"Kid, I'm fast enough to give the sun a run for its money when it rises," Asagao assured him. "And Diaz is even faster than I am. We'll catch 'em. Count on it."

Diaz walked up next to Asagao and placed his hand on the other man's shoulder. "Well then, we have three days of distance to catch up. We better be going now." Diaz jumped out of the guard tower's main booth and began heading towards the East, the sun behind him as night began to take hold, the sunset fading in a dazzling array of colors. "It would almost be pleasurable to be out in the sunset like this, on any other day." Diaz commented. "However, a hollow that killed an entire clan and a guard before anyone even was aware of it's presence... I don't know about you, but for some reason, I get the feeling that there had to be someone of spiritual power in that town, maybe with the ability to sense things. I think we're out after a damn smart hollow. Probably human sized and shape, power of maybe, a C class hollow. Dangerous." Diaz frowned, his left hand holding onto his sword tightly.

"There probably is," Asagao nodded. "It's not uncommon – quite a few people with the potential don't want to leave their families to be Shinigami. As for the Hollow, yeah, you're probably right about that. But that's enough talk. Let's go get him."

With that said, Asagao set out at a run, only paying the bare minimum of attention to his surroundings as he focused instead on looking for sources of spiritual power. After all, there was no knowing how far the Hollow had gone – for all he knew it could be lurking only a mile or so down the mountain trail.

Diaz followed Asagao, easily keeping pace with the older Shinigami. Diaz's eyes scanned the hillside and valley while keeping his senses open for any thing of spiritual pressure. _It must be pretty far away, since I can't feel even the slightest bit of energy from anything besides Asagao._ Diaz suddenly stopped and knelt the the ground. "Asagao, look at this." Diaz pointed out a spot of blood in the ground, along with a torn, bloody piece of green silk-like cloth. "Something happened here."

Asagao ran over and scratched at his head as he looked down at the bloody rag. "Hmm, interesting. How old do you think it is?" he asked.

"Look, Asagao." Diaz rubbed the blood together with his fingers. "The blood is completely dry. It crumbles when I rub it together. However, it hasn't turned black yet. This means it could have been any time within the three days that we had, this teaches us nothing." Diaz picked up the cloth and brushed the blood off of hit and tucked it into his obi. "Maybe it'll be useful later, as a clue or a comparison item. Keep looking!" Diaz began to move again.

Asagao followed, mind churning. "Even so," he said. "It's odd that there would be traces of blood and yet no body. This Hollow seems too canny to leave any witnesses - but if it's not from a victim then who might have been out here?"

The path down the next slope was a long series of switchbacks. Asagao didn't bother, instead leaping down from one level to the next at a reckless pace. His sandals were certainly going to be taking a battering on this terrain he noted.

Diaz jumped down the path with Asagao, also wondering about what was going on. _I think that this is just the remains of one of the victoms, but this is way too weird. I dislike this. It feels way too weird._ "I still don't sense anything, Asagao. Do you feel the hollow?"

"Nothing yet," Asagao replied grimly. "I'd be surprised to, frankly. This one's too smart to hang around. We need to cover some serious ground – but stay alert. If it's expecting pursuit then we could very easily run headlong into a trap."

Diaz nodded, understanding completely. "I don't think the hollow would expect a group of shinigami out here, so I doubt it expects that we're following it." Diaz sped up a little bit, hoping he wasn't going too fast for Asagao. "We need to find this thing as fast as possible, but we do have a major problem. He had three days to go any direction out here, but we have no idea which way. So, do you have any plans? If it can hide its spiritual pressure, we'll never be able to find it!"

"Remember what I said about there being a fair number of spiritually aware people out here?" Asagao asked. "There are a few in every settlement and they keep a sharp eye out for Hollow's even if it's not too common for them to come here any more. There's another village ahead and no real trails that don't go there. We can ask there if they had any sign of it. If not then we'll know that it took a side-trail and we can double-back and check them."

"Alright, let's go." Diaz kept going at the speed he'd previously set, running towards the direction the town was supposed to be. Diaz and Asagao neared the town, seeing the gates ahead. "Look, the gates are up ahead..." Diaz trailed off slightly. The town was also in terrible shape, about half of it was still standing, the rest was in ruin. "We're on the right path, Asagao." Diaz said grimly. "Look, the hollow was here."

Asagao's face tightened. "Right. I'll see if anyone got a look at it, if they know what direction it went in," he said, altering his path slightly.

He bounded up to the gates, mouth open to shout a greeting. Much to his surprise, he was prempted by a javelin that someone threw at him from the shelter of the gate. As he ducked aside, he heard a shout. "HELP, HELP! HE'S COME BACK!"

Diaz ran up to the gates when he heard the shouts about the hollow returning, waving his hands above his head. "We're not the hollow! We're shinigami, we've come to help!" Diaz called out to them group of men who came running with more spears. "We're friends, don't attack!" Diaz shouted again.

"Hold on!" Diaz heard someone calling from the top of the gates. "How do we know you're not lying?" Diaz shouted back. "Look at us! We're wearing shinigami robes, and to further prove we're not enemies, look at my partner! He's holding an infant!"

"Yeah? Well the other b called himself a Shinigami too," replied the voice.

"How do we know you didn't just steal the kid to back up your story!" shouted another man.

"That's it," Asagao growled under his breath, his face thunderous. He lifted Atae up so she could clearly see him and drew his zanpakutou with his other hand.

"Hey, wait!" a shout went up from the gates. "What are you doing!" Two men bolted out, heading for Asagao.

"Genzoyaibano!" Asagao cried out. "Seigun!"

A ripple of light flowed down the sword and the men, those approaching him as well as those at the gate, staggered under the momentary vision of Asagao through the eyes of the child in his arms.

Diaz saw Asagao release his sword and waited for the effects to take hold on the men. After a few moments, the light of realization appeared in all of their eyes, and Diaz called out to them once again. "Look, open the gate, will you? I can understand you're afraid we're that Hollow, but I think now you should see things more clearly."

No response. Diaz was about to call again, but the gates began to open. The two shinigami walked through the gates into the small town, and really saw the destruction. Over half of the town was totally destroyed, the other half was highly damaged. _Wow, this hollow has some serious firepower... and the element of surprise._ "Can you tell us what you know?"

The leader of those gathered at the gates was a woman, thin and prematurely aged, but still vigorous. "I don't even know if it was a Hollow," she said. "He told us he was a Shinigami – a healer, who carried no sword. We opened the gates, welcomed him. He visited the sick and they all seemed stronger when he left them."

"The first we knew that anything was happening was when four monsters started tearing up houses. We only realised later that in each case the first house destroyed was one where he'd visited. It wasn't until dawn that we recognised the faces they wore, they were so twisted. When our leaders asked him for help he… changed. No one who saw that escaped alive but I saw him later. He didn't move like a man any more, and it looked like he was wearing his skeleton on the outside…" she shook her head. "His face was horrible…"

Diaz nodded to the woman. "How long ago was this? We're hunting him down right now, and time is very important." The woman looked at Diaz and nodded. "This happened two days ago, he left yesterday." Diaz bowed to the woman and said "Thank you." Diaz turned to Asagao. "We need to hurry, he's still a day ahead of us!"

The woman looked at the two shinigami and frowned, bowing her head slightly. "I'm sorry, however. If you would please leave as soon as possible, it would be best for our little community." Diaz nodded, grimly. _She still doesn't trust us, but what can you do or say? She just had her entire town nearly completely destroyed because of someone calling themselves a shinigami._ "Okay. Thank you for the information." Diaz turned to Asagao. "Let's go, we're not welcome here." Diaz turned one last time to the woman. "Wait, which direction did he head off in?"

"You'll have to wait a moment," Asagao said calmly from behind Diaz. Once the confrontation had been transformed into a conversation, the blond shinigami had returned Genzoyaibano to her sheath and taken advantage of the respite. Which was to say that he was sitting on a stone and had removed Atae's nappy, depositing it in a small bag from the satchel he carried. Now he pulled out a fresh nappy from the satchel and began to fit it to the girl.

A wave of snickering went up from the small crowd that had been gathering and the mood lightened firther. Even the leader gave a small chuckle at the sight. "When he was last sighted, he was following the south-east trail," she said. "That leads up the valley, but it turns south after a few miles. If you want to catch him, you might make up time by going straight up the ridge."

Diaz waited for Asagao to finish changing the child and then began to walk out of the town to the south-east. "Let's hurry, Asagao!" Diaz called as they left the town to follow the ridgeline to try and catch up to the hollow. "That town was in terrible shape, and so were the people. I have a bad feeling about this." Diaz commented as they sped up to a decent pace.

"I mean, did you see the looks on their faces? They were terrified of us, and probably of everyone else that would have come upon that town. We need to catch up to the hollow and stop it at all costs, and as soon as we possibly can. Before it can cause more damage."

With a nod, Asagao bounded up the side of the ridge, picking out the fastest path he could around the occasional sheer face. In a couple of places they had to scramble up almost vertical slopes but they still managed to reach the top in less than an hour. Looking back, the town they had left was tiny – and they couldn't even see the people in the streets. Looking forwards…

Asagao shaded his eyes with his free hand and looked at the distinct trail of smoke rising beyond an mountain to the south of the ridge. "There's a village about there," he said solemnly. "And three more before he could get there if he followed the major trails. And why shouldn't he? He obviously can pass for a Shinigami. Our only chance of catching him is to cross the mountain directly, rather than going around it."

"Then," Diaz began, "We go directly over the hill." Diaz began the hike across the hill, over the mountain with Asagao and the child following him. "We need to get there as soon as possible, he's being pretty damn brutal I guess." Diaz commented as the neared the top of the hill. "Let's hurry as much as we can." Diaz said as he began climbing down the hill, partially sliding down, partially running. "Careful, its really steep, don't hurt the kid!" Diaz called to Asagao as he skidded down the hillside.

Asagao descended the hill the same way that he had before – far too fast, hands holding Atae and his gear steady as his legs did all the work. At the foot of the hill, he simply kept running, using the momentum he'd built up to accelerate up the crest of the ridge that led up to the main bulk of the mountain.

"The Hollow might reach another village before we catch up," he muttered as they ran. "But if he stops for that then we should be less than an hour behind him." He halted and rearranged his burdens, then followed a fork in the ridge towards a crevasse. Leaping across it he caught hold of the cliff-face that reared up above them and began to clamber up it doggedly. Halfway up, he kicked off his sandals and socks, needing the better grip of bare feet.

Diaz followed Asagao as they began climbing to the top of the main hillside, and the cliff. "Man, this certainly is a pain in the ass. And what of getting back after we destroy this hollow? It'll be a damn long walk!" Diaz complained a little bit as they scaled the hillside. "You doing alright, Asagao? With the child and all, it's probably a bit harder for you to get up this thing than me!" Diaz slowed down a little bit so Asagao had a better chance of keeping up with him.

"I've been better," Asagao admitted. "But I've been worse as well. I'll manage." The sun had set by the time they reached the top and they finished the climb under moonlight. Asagao halted a moment to feed Atae, who had been wailing for the last part of the climb but settled down once she was provided with some milk.

"Right - we'll have to go slower on the way down - it's too dark to go full speed," he said. "No use chance of catching him if we break our legs or necks. But when the sun rises there's a good chance we'll be close behind him."

Diaz grinned in the moonlight. "Well, tomorrow then, he will be a dead hollow." Diaz and Asagao began slowly scaling the cliff in the moonlight, working their way to the bottom, much safer than the last few times. "Man, it's much harder doing this at night." Diaz commented to Asagao as they slowly made their way down to the bottom. On a ledge about halfway down, Diaz pulled out a package of energy pills and ate one. "You need one, Asagao?" Diaz offered one of the pills to his friend.

"Oh, we could go faster," Asagao said, accepting the energy pill. "But I don't recall any lessons on flying at the Academy and bouncing hurts." He chewed the pill for a minute then swallowed with a grimace. "These things still taste lousy - would it kill them to flavor them mint or something?"

Putting his hand on the edge of the ledge, he flipped over it, causing Atae to giggle brightly, and continued to descend, vanishing into the shadows cast by the moon north of the mountain.

The sun was just peeking over the top of the mountain as they trotted down the last slope towards the still smouldering ruins of a town. This time, no one moved within the ruins.

"Looks like the hollow is getting wiser this time. He didn't leave a single person alive." Diaz knelt down, putting his hand on the smoking ground. "It's cooling, he probably was still here when we saw the smoke yesterday." Diaz frowned, standing up. "He's probably gone on the path towards the next town, since, like you said, he doesn't need to hide. He's hiding in plain sight as a shinigami." Diaz began walking through the remains of the town, avoiding the wreckage. "I didn't think people lived this far out. I thought most of them stayed in the normal districts, not coming out here and making their own community."

Asagao shrugged. "Rukongai's a big place. We're still in the districts, you know. Somewhere around the 69th I think. The outer twenty or so districts of the north are mostly mountains." Looking ahead he examined a breach in the log wall that had surrounded the town. "I think that this is where he left – all the debris is on the outside. Amd from the tracks he's still alone." He pointed out footprints in the soft earth – sandals much like those on Diaz' feet. "And they're fresh," he added. "Not far ahead now."

Diaz had a grim smile on his face as he put his left hand on the sheath of his sword. "Then, he dies soon. Remember to hide your spiritual pressure." Diaz did so himself and began following the tracks that the hollow had made. They led down the path towards the next village. "Asagao! Hurry! He's going to attack the village over there!" Diaz called as he sped up, running towards the village which just began to start having a few pillars of smoke appearing. Diaz drew his katana from its sheath and continued down the path at breakneck speed. _Bastard hollow, this is the last village you get, ever!_

Asagao swore as he followed Diaz. He'd hoped that they could catch up with the Hollow before it reached the next village. He couldn't afford the breath to swear much though, Diaz was pushing the pace and it was taking all his energy to keep up. They all but flew along the path, swords out as they reached the cleft in the ridge that led to the next settlement, the slap of sandals and bare feet on the ground the only sounds but for their fast but regular breathing.

Then the next village came into view. Unlike most it wasn't fortified, a close knit cluster of houses along the path, linked by balconys and walkways, and in two places by bridges across the path connecting second storeys. A third bridge had fallen and a small group of people were dashing out of the nearest house. Two of them were carrying children. There was an explosion of timbers from the corner of the house and the roof sagged as part of its support was removed. The cause was evident as a mangled corpse fell to the ground in front of the hole.

Diaz ran into the town, towards where all the destruction was coming from. Diaz found himself looking at a man with a mask, shinigami robes and a hole in his chest. _It's him, he's the hollow!_ Diaz held his sword tightly as he charged towards the man, swinging his sword downward, but striking nothing but air. _Damnit, he's fast! Where's Asagao!_ Diaz cursed inwardly as he struck three more times, each one missing. "Who are you, hollow?" Diaz growled out while getting more and more frustrated about missing.

Asagao leapt down in front of the little group of refugees from the horror that was devestating their homes. From the look of them they had been barely awake when the attack came - some of them were only partly dressed. At first they recoiled from him, but he had no time to deal with their reaction. Instead he whipped off his cloak and threw it to one half-dressed woman. Then he lifted Atae and handed her, sling and all, to an older woman. "Head for the next village," he ordered. "It's wrecked but if you head west from there you might find shelter." He handed over his satchel as well, leaving himself unencumbered for the fight. "I'll come after you once this is dealt with."

Receiving little more than a surprised nod from the woman before she hustled her little company up the path, the blond Shinigami follwed Diaz into the village.

Diaz kept attacking the hollow as Asagao appeared. "Help me out, damnit! He's fast as hell!" Diaz called out to Asagao, missing another attack. The hollow moved in to attack Diaz, but the second sword on his belt glowed, making a loud ringing noise, and the hollow stepped back and clutched it's head, shaking it as if it was in pain. _What's going on?_ Diaz wondered as he took the advantage and slashed at the hollow, once again missing as the hollow ran off, out of the town and away from the two shinigami. "What the hell? Follow it!" Diaz yelled to Asagao as they began chasing it.

"On it," Asagao shouted and lifted a spear from the ground where it had been dropped by a half-prepared defender who would never need it again. He barely seemed to aim before he threw it side-armed, the simple metal point driving into the Hollow's back - hardly a serious wound for a Hollow, but enough to slow the tall, thin beast, on whom Shinigami robes hung loosely as if on a scarecrow.

Closing the distance, Asagao grabbed it by one wrist and slashed at its mask with his zanpakutou. He was shocked to feel the blade stopped entirely by the mask and barely avoided being grappled in turn by the Hollow. _Oh hell - I hope that it's only a Hollow,_ he thought.

Diaz used a few shyunpo to catch up to Asagao and the hollow, his sword whistling down on the hollow's head, also to be completely stopped by the mask. _Not even a crack?_ Diaz frowned deeply, jumped back to avoid the clawed hand that struck for his chest.

Diaz looked to Asagao and nodded, about to try to attack it at the same time as the other shinigami when the second sword on Diaz's belt howled again, causing the ringing noise to return and the hollow once more grabbed it's head and ran away. "What the hell is going on here?!" Diaz yelled out, once more giving chase to the running away hollow.

"Well, this is offically, fucking weird," Asagao said, intercepting the fleeing Hollow and cutting it off at the ankles – more or less literally. The Hollow didn't actually lose it's feet but it wouldn't be running too fast until the damage was regenerated. That sword seems to have some sort of effect upon it – and isn't it cheating for the mask not to break?" He punctuated his query by kicking the Hollow in the face and jumping back as it roared.

It wasn't even particularly large as Hollows go – maybe a foot taller than Diaz. But it was fast and unlike most hollows it appeared to have at least some skill at fighting, rather than relying on ferocity and natural weapons. "Keep it penned in," he yelled and lunged in with more stinging attacks, none of which did more than cause brief moments of pain when they managed to hit at all.

Diaz slashed at the hollow, and since it had been slowed a bit because of the cut that Asagao had landed on it, Diaz had managed to wound it slightly. "Finally, a hit in. However, I don't think this Hollow is going to let us kill it with our little games." Diaz held his sword up and called out, "Kaze no koi wa atsui, kimi no nozomi wa boku no gechi! Atemi, Noukonkaze!" And his sword began absorbing the wind around them, forming the blade of wind that is Noukonkaze's released form.

"Let's see if I can't break that mask of your's now, Hollow!" Diaz roared as he used a shyunpo to appear in front of the hollow, slashing downwards with his released sword. The sword hit the mask, cracking it slightly, but the hollow was fast enough to score a hit on Diaz's sword hand, sending Noukonkaze flying into the dirt about twenty yards away. "Shit!" Diaz used a second shyunpo to evade the second strike, but was unable to angle it in the direction that his sword went.

Asagao shouted a war cry, his stenorian bellow of "EBAAONWAADO!" ringing off the damaged buildings and drawing the attention of those still trying to get out of the path of the battle that had emerged from what hd very nearly been a simple massacre. The Shinigami closed in, sword a series of glittering petal-like blurs as he harried the Hollow, drawing it's attention away from his comrade.

The choice facing the Hollow was a stark one, the same as that faced by anyone unarmed against a swordsman - closing enough to strike inevitably left one open to be attacked in turn due to the greater reach of the sword. Asagao's opponent chose instead to withdraw and leapt back, lashing out to shatter the face of a small house and block Asagao's path with falling timbers. He dodged around them. _Damn - strong and fast, a bad combination._

Diaz dashed out to get his sword, retrieving it and reforming the blade of wind that had vanished when he had lost control of the sword, when he heard a voice entering his mind. _"Use me._ said the feminine voice of the second sword on his belt. Diaz looked to the sword and nodded to it, grabbing it by the sheath and hefting it out of his belt.

Diaz used a shyunpo to get near the hollow, slashing at it with just one hand with Noukonkaze. "Asagao, catch!" Diaz tossed the second sword to him, guessing his position from his spiritual pressure. "Use this sword!" Diaz yelled to him as he tried to distract the hollow by using his incomplete fighting style, Like the Wind.

Asagao jumped to catch the weapon. It was spinning through the air, the scabbard lost somewhere in mid flight, and rather than wasting his effort to intercept it neatly, he simply slapped the flat of Genzoyaibano against the whirl of steel. The spin turned into a slower tumble and Asagao scooped the sword out of the air, holding it reversed in his left hand.

With a scream the Hollow leapt back and away from Asagao, trying to bowl over Diaz and make an escape.

Diaz intercepted the hollow's path, blocking it from escaping with his sword. "You're afraid of that sword, aren't you?" Diaz asked as he raised his sword above his head and called out "Kaze no Tsubasa!" and brought his sword down, sending a vaccuum blade at the Hollow. Diaz started moving as soon as his attack left his sword, following it in at the hollow, making three slashes where he thought the hollow would be, two of them hitting.

The hollow kept trying to get away from Asagao and the sword, so Diaz kept moving in the path of the hollow, blocking it's escape, keeping it near Asagao. "Cut it with the other sword, Asagao!" Diaz called out as he blocked a nasty attack from the hollow, not completely, his arms aching from the blow.

Asagao didn't have to be told twice and closed in. With a disturbing wail the Hollow turned, clawed hands reaching in an effort to turn aside the attacks. Genzoyaibano slashed into both hands, bloodying both pals. Sinking to his haunches, well below the arms' protection, Asagao brought the borrowed sword around in a long, sweeping cut from almost under his right arm, through the Hollow's midsection before ending with the edge of the blade almost parallel to his left arm as it extended out from his side, the tip of the sword almost touching his back.

There was a moment of silence and then the blue lightning the duo had seen between Noukonkaze and Atae flared between the zanpakutou and the Hollow. Unfortunately, Asagao was right between the two and the screams of the Hollow were all but drowned by the howls of the Shinigami that faced him. Sparks ran along Genzoyaibano's length, a muted reflection of the blazing auras that pinned the two combatants where they stood in front of Diaz. Forked tendrils of lightning traced a supernal pattern across the ground, blasting odds and ends of metal as they ran across them.

Asagao's eyes had always been blue but now they blazed incandescently as a column of energy seemed to run from them to the eyes of Hollow and a second beam linked them to the eyes of the dragon carved into the hilt of the sword he still clutched in his left hand.

Diaz covered his eyes and backed up away from the blue lightning that was arching between the other two fighters, wondering what exactly was going on. Diaz called out to Asagao, but his words were lost in the howling of the hollow and the screaming of the sword. _What the hell is going on here? I've never seen anything like this!_ Diaz saw a ball of energy surrounding the other two fighters, and was nearly blinded by it's light. "What the hell is going on?" Diaz tried to reach Asagao again.

A concussive wave blasted Diaz back from the mismatched pair in the centre of the maelstrom. Almost incidentally one of the nearby buildings finished collapsing as the force swept over it. The lightning snapped away from Asagao's eyes suddenly, forming a glowing chain between the Hollow's mask and the hilt of the sword.

With a convulsive effort, Asagao flung himself back, pushing the sword forwards. The bulk of the lightning around him dissipated, leaving him gasping on the ground. A shout was drawn from his throat and blood trickled from his mouth into his beard as he dragged back on the sword, pulling it away from the Hollow. The chain tightened, and then something was drawn out from the Hollow's mask. Something shimmierng and indistinct, but that could possibly be the image of a man's head and chest rearing out of the ivory visage.

Diaz was blown backwards, but quickly recovered as he saw what was going on. Diaz poured his energy into Noukonkaze, throwing a Kaze no Tsubasa at the hollow, this time the mask being hit directly, and causing splinters of it to fall off.

Diaz dashed back to Asagao, standing next to him in a ready stance. "The hollow's mask can be broken now, we're back in business!" Diaz grinned as he sank down next to Asagao. "I'll follow your lead."

Asagao coughed, spitting up more blood, then squared his shoulders and shook away the flares that had seemed to settle over his vision. He stabbed Genzoyaibano into a wall. freeing his right hand to grab hold of the other zanpakutou's hilt and hold it firmly with both hands. His spiritual pressure was wavering, but only the trained senses of a Shinigami could have told as he redoubled his efforts to drag… whatever it was… free of the Hollow, that seemed to be awakening from the dazed states at the effects of the light show.

"You'll… have to do it," he grunted. "I'm barely holding this."

Diaz nodded as he dashed in to the hollow, bringing the fight to him while he was still dazed. Diaz slashed downward at the head, aiming to purify it, but Diaz wasn't ready for the hollow to still have some speed left, and it leaned it's head to the side, taking Diaz's sword to it's shoulder and it stabbed Diaz in the chest before he could back up.

Diaz jumped back, holding his chest and pointed one hand at Asagao, the sword hand pointing towards himself and he whispered, "Imbue the body with the purest of the air, cover its wounds and cool its soul... Chiyudo Go Ju, Seimei Bifuu." Diaz's hands glowed slightly letting the air blow off them and surround the two shinigami, curing all their external injuries, helping them recover. "You ready now, Asagao? He still has some fight left in him!"

In response, Asagao dragged down on the hilt, instigating a bizarre tug of war against the Hollow, his feet digging into the ground as he fought against the pull exerted as the Hollow, spared from Diaz's attacks tried to cram whatever it was that had been pulled loose back into it's mask. It couldn't seem to affect the chain itself, but it clawed desperately at the figure itself, which was no more clear than before.

"Get behind it," he suggested, heaving again and again against the sword. "It can't turn too far while I'm pulling on it like this!"

Diaz nodded and used shyunpo to move himself behind the hollow, moving in to attack. "Hold it down, Asagao!" Diaz called out as he dashed in, slashing towards the hollow's head while Asagao held the hollow in place. _I need to purify it!_ Diaz thought as the sword slashed downwards, only to be met by a weird barrier. "Asagao, I can't hit it, it's got some weird barrier stopping me from purifying it!

_What!?_ Asagao protested against the unfairness. _Another defense? That's just ridiculous!_ "I'm open to suggestions!" he shouted, dragging on the sword again, managing a full step back. The Hollow moved forward, trying to make up the lost ground by slackening the chain, but the links shrank, denying it the benefit. _Nice to know whose side it's on!_ Asagao grinned. "Maybe if I can get this thing out entirely," he speculated. "See if you can bind it!"

Diaz nodded and pulled out his final elixir of restoration and popped the cap off, quickly drinking it. Diaz then raised two fingers of his left hand and pointed them towards the hollow and called out his spell, "Bakudou #61, Rikijyoukourou!" Around the hollow, four yellow sheets of dense spiritual pressure appeared and condenscened themselves on the hollow, effectively locking it in place and stopping it's arms from moving properly. "It's bound, do what you need to do now, Asagao! I don't know how long this will hold!"

Asagao responded immediately, his spiritual pressure flaring around him as he leant back, digging his feet into the ground as he put all his strength into hauling the sword and it's chain away from the Hollow. Sweat began to pour down his face and blue sparks began to appear in the blaze of his aura, distinct against the golden flaring that was the usual visual bleedthrough when the Shinigami unlocked his full power. His spiritual pressure steadied and began to sink as he spent his strength recklessly, moving away, step by agonizing step.

The yellow sheets shook and began to crack under the pressures being exerted, but the apparition that Asagao was drawing forth was almost free. Three more steps… two… now just one… Asagao fell to one knee, twisting to the side, but holding his ground. "Come! On!" he shouted and threw his weight into one final heave…

Asagao seemed heavily winded when he took the final step back, and Diaz could tell that his energy was being drained by exerting so much force. _Looks like the fighting will be up to us, Noukonkaze!_ Diaz thought to himself, but his thoughts were completely interrupted and derailed when he saw what happened when Asagao had pulled the chain completely.

The human, shinigami like body of the hollow began to contort, and the sounds of a hollow's voice could be heard, screaming in agony. Diaz half wanted to cover his ears, the voice, the screaming was to loud. The hollow's hands slowly changed into giant claws, the arms bulging, ripping through the clothing on them, becoming a pure white. The legs also growing at an amazing rate, them too, ripping free of their clothing. The chest bulged out also, like it was going to explode, and the entire body altered shape, including the mask, which had looked eerily too human to be a hollow's mask, changed into a freakish mask.

Diaz looked at Asagao who was also staring at the new Hollow in shock, when the Hollow snapped them out of their thoughts by releasing a massive howl and lunged towards Asagao. Diaz saw the movement and began moving immediately after, but even with his speed, the hollow was closer. _Shit, I'm not going to get there before the hollow does! And Asagao's energy is lower than normal! Shit!_ "Move, Asagao!" Diaz head himself calling out.

Asagao was still shaking with exertion as the Hollow lunged at him. With Genzoyaibano still embedded in the wall and the other zanpakutou held awkwardly reversed in his left hand, there was no time to use a weapon. Instead, he tried a last moment kip up in hope of avoiding the brunt of the impact, jerking his legs up and rolling heels over head. The main force of the Hollow's leap – which would probably have crushed him flat given how drained he was - missed him, but even the glancing hit he took was enough to tear open the back of his dogi and leave him bloodied as he scrambled away, the zanpakutou in his hand lost in the confusion.

The hollow prepared to send another attack at the injured Asagao, but Diaz had caught up by than, blocking the attack with Noukonkaze. "Bastard, you're not getting past me so easily!" Diaz pushed against the hollow claws, sinking his feet into the ground and pouring energy into Noukonkaze. Diaz twisted Noukonkaze slightly and sank down, bringing the sword back to him, slicing the hollow's hand in half. "Hah, seems like you can be hurt now, huh?" Diaz grinned as he pressed forward, slashing repeatedly at the hollow, trying to wound it some more.

Both the hollow and the shinigami jumped back away from each other to get some breath. "Asagao, are you alright? Can you still fight?" Diaz called out over his shoulder to his friend. _If he can still fight, I just need him to distract it for a moment while I get behind it and take it out..._

"I'll live," Asagao replied, testing his back and considering his energy reserves. _Damn… fighting might be pushing my luck," he realised. IStill… maybe…_ "Get ready!" he shouted and ran in, hands cumpped in front of him. "Remove from sight, blind their eyes," he snapped. "Do not allow this foe to hit their mark. Bougyoudo #3:" He ducked his head and slid under a swipe that could have torn his head from his shoulders. "Blue Mist!"

Tumbling out of the cloud of smoke that hand formed around the Hollow, he restrained a groan of pain as his wounded back smacked into the ground, but he flipped himself over and used his remaining momentum to crawl away a few yards, before he got his feet underneath him and could stand on them.

Diaz closed his eyes, relying on sensing the hollow in the smoke rather than looking for it and charged in, slashing it three times before it knew what was happening. The smoke began to clear, and Diaz thrust his sword into the hollow's chest. "Asagao, I'll hold it here! You kill it!" Diaz screamed to his injured partner, using all of his strength to hold the hollow down with his sword.

With a grunt of agreement, Asagao sprang forwards and retreived Genzoyaibano, shouting his warcry as he turned and bunched his legs beneath him before thowing himself into the air, sparing the muscles of his back as much as he could. Reversing his grip, he held the zanpakutou with both hands and thrust downwards as he landed on the Hollow's back. The blade pierced the back of the Hollow's head a moment before his feet made contact, but he drove the blade onwards until it had pierced the mask from behind, then twisted the blade, sending long fracture lines through the mask. As he ripped the sword free the mask split along the fracture lines and shattered, the body dissolving beneath him.

Diaz stepped back, sheathing his sword as he resealed it and nodded to Asagao. "Good job." was all that needed to be said. Turning to the dissipating form of the hollow, inside, after the outer shell of the hollow had vanished, stood a man in shinigami robes, his form was surrounded in a light, as he slowly dissipated from the feet up. The man spoke to them, first to the man who used the sword that weakened him, Asagao.

"Who are you?" asked the man. "Why do you wield ?" The name that he said then was one that neither Diaz nor Asagao could ever remember. "Why do you carry my sword?"

Asagao stared at him, then shrugged. "I'm Chousen Asagao," he answered, returning his weapon to its saya at his side. "The sword… is all that remains of a wife of the Inginburei clan. I hold it in trust for her daughter." He walked slowly across the battered street to retrieve the sword from where it lay. "Who are you?"

The man looked confused. "Inginburei Tokei," he replied. "But, it seems to be my zanpakutou – I was fighting a Hollow, I had it in my hand…"

Diaz stepped up. "The hollow must have absorbed you, or you absorbed it." Diaz helped Tokei out. "After your assumed death, your brother found out about your child. Your sword took the form of a woman, and was poisoned by him, in an attempt to gain control of your clan. We tried to save the woman, but she was too far poisoned for us to do anything. She died, leaving this sword behind. That's how we found out it was your sword." Diaz continued. "Your child is safe, do you have anything you wish us to do with it?"

"Child?" Tokei asked, a look on delight on his face. "I have a child? A daughter?"

"Yes," Asagao assured him. "She's a fine healthy girl." He hissed out loud in pain as he straightened, the sword in his hands. "We were looking your family when we came across the Hollow," he said. "I think it was hunting them for some reason."

Diaz nodded. "I feel, since, a normal hollow seeks out it's family to kill them, to fill it's empty heart, that's what happened to you. When the hollow merged with you, it hunted down your family to kill them, so it wouldn't feel as empty."

Tokei frowned, crying as the last of his body vanished from sight completely. "Take care of my child, please..." were the last words heard by the two shinigami.

Diaz turned to Asagao, looking at him intently. "What do we do now? You're injured pretty badly, we don't know where the child is and now you have to decide what to do with the child. So, what is your plan, Asagao?"

Asagao sighed. "I'm not that badly hurt," he said. "With a little rest I can use chiyudo to patch myself up. In the menatime I'd better not exert myself too much though." He pointed back the way they'd come. "I handed Atae to one of the people running away from the Hollow, told her to run towards the next village and head west from their. You should be able to catch up with them easily and tell them that it's safe, if you're up to a little run."

He sat down slowly on a porch. "I'll just wait here and catch my breath – old folk like me aren't used to this sort of rigorous exercise," he added with a grin.

Diaz grinned at his friend and started running off in the direction that Asagao had pointed, heading towards the town to the west. Diaz was pretty fast, so he made it to the town very quickly. Looking around, Diaz found some of the people that he'd seen before in the town they just fought in.

Diaz approached them, and when he did they all stood up, looking at each other, and him, oddly. "Your town is safe, we killed the hollow that was destroying it." Diaz smiled to them. "So you can start heading back now, but before that. Is there an elderly woman who was holding on to a child? The child is being taken care of by a friend of mine, you see... and I would like to bring her back to him." Diaz looked around for the woman.

A man stepped up. "She'll be back in a few moments, she just want to wash the child you speak of."

Diaz waited a few more minutes, and the woman had just came back, recognizing him. "Yes, your town is safe. Would you like me to walk you all back?" Diaz smiled to the group, who all nodded.

Diaz and the group slowly made their way back to the town they came from, and because of Diaz and Asagao, the town was still mostly standing, with only a few broken parts to it. A few hours had gone by by the time Diaz and the group of villagers made it back to the town, and Diaz took the baby back to Asagao.

It only took a moment for Diaz to find Asagao – he was still on the porch but was lying awkwardly on his side and snoring loudly. It was a wonder that Atae got any sleep herself, sharing a bedroom with someone who made that much noise when he slept. He woke as Diaz approached and sat up, shaking his head, sending blond hairs flying where they had escaped from his ponytail. "Nothing like a few hours sleep to refresh a man," he muttered as he accepted Atae back and set her on his lap.

"No difficulties?" he asked, cracking his knuckles and flexing his fingers in preparation for casting chiyudo on himself.

Diaz shook his head at Asagao. "No, I found them quickly, found the child quickly, had no issues getting her back or leading the people back here." Diaz was about to hand the child back to Asagao, but noticed him about to use some chiyudo, and waited a few moments. "I'm just about ready to get home, how about you, Asagao?"

"Another couple of minutes," Asagao said and began to mutter a healing chiyudo, closing the deepest parts of the wounds. After a few moments to let the kidou settle he cast another, this one closing the shallower scratches. Between the combination of his previous exertion and the generally low level of his kidou skills restricting him to low level Chiyudo, it took him longer than a real expert would have done to do the job. Not that he felt any particular hurry on the matter.

Once he was done, he donned his cloak, covering the ruin that had been made of his dogi's back. "Well then," he said, rising to his feet. "We can take it a little slower going back, can we?"

Diaz handed baby Atae back to Asagao and nodded. "Yeah, we can go back a bit slower than we came, we're not in a rush to get home as we were to catch the hollow." Diaz looked around, frowning. "However, I'd rather start walking back now, I definately want to go home." Diaz and Asagao gathered their equipment, swords, including the nameless one, and the baby and began to follow the path back through the towns they'd already gone through, working their way back towards the Court of Pure Souls.

Asagao was walking slowly at first, but they picked up the pace over time until they were travelling at a leisurely run through the deep valleys and winding paths of the northern mountains. As they passed one propserous looking village, Asagao slowed and then halted. "Hey, Diaz," he called. "I'm hungry – how about you? We could stop at the inn for a quick meal."

Diaz shook his head. "Naw, I have some apples on me if you want some, but I'd really prefer to start heading home. I'm really sick of being in Rukongai, and I miss the Court of Pure Souls." Diaz laughed, taking out a couple of apples and tossing one to Asagao. "So, today was a very, very interesting day, wasn't it?" Diaz recapped the day in his mind as they walked down the path towards the ruined towns on their way home. "We tried to find out more information about the child, only to find that a hollow had somehow made it's way into Soul Society and kill the relatives of the parents three days ago. Then, we continue on, hunting down the hollow, finding out that it looked like a shinigami, and had destroyed man towns already."

Diaz paused, taking a few bites from his apple. "Then, when we finally caught up to it, it had some weird abilities that wouldn't let us purify it. And then the sword that I had been carrying, ended up ripping out some weird energy from the hollow, causing it to transform into a hollow that actually looked like one. When we finally did kill it, it turned out to be the shinigami we were looking for, the father of Atae. Life is weird, is it not, Asagao?"

Asagao chuckled around a mouthful of apple and swallowed noisily. "What's that old curse about interesting times?" he asked rhetorically. "Still, I'd say we did some good – that bloody thing was far too close to being a vizard. If we hadn't had the sword to draw out the 'inner Shinigami' we would have had one hell of a lot of trouble dealing with it." He nudged Atae where she hung at his side, and she yawned, settling the side of her head against his chest and closed her bright eyes with a little sigh of content. Whatever might have happened to her father was well above her head, but the big crimson spirit was back and all was right in her little world.

.oOo.

Knelt across a desk from some officious paper-pusher representing the Central 46, Asagao stifled the urge to yawn. The sun was bright, the sky was clear of clouds and somewhere outside squirrels were making lots of little squirrels, which was always good for a laugh if he pointed out to some daffy little girly shinigami who thought that squirrels were small and cute and would never do anything as crude. Fortunately, Seireitei had no shortage of such natural victims. But instead of carrying out the malicious but entertaining possibilities in such a day – or better, going hunting for Hollows – he was listening to this idiot drone on about some mission to find someone or other who'd last been seen someplace that he'd missed hearing and –

"Are you listening, Chousen?" asked the paper-pushing shinigami silkily.

"No," Asagao replied in a bored voice. "You bore me, so I was taking a nap." He reached over to pluck a scroll out of the hands of the idiot, who squawked at the intrusion into his personal space. "Suzume Matsu. Last seen leaving Seireitei three weeks ago. No mission assignment, just left. Find out why, bring back if possible." He passed the scroll back. "Now… was that so hard?"

.oOo.

Diaz was sleeping peacefully over his desk in the 5th Division headquarters when someone rudely interrupted him, "Kokuei Diaz?" the woman asked as Diaz sat up in his chair, yawning slightly. "Yes? That's me." Diaz said to the woman who'd intruded in his nap time.

"There's been a mission assigned to you by the Central 46." Diaz frowned, not wanting to go out. On such a nice day, Diaz should be able to sleep peacefully on his desk. "What are the mission details?" Diaz asked, annoyed. "Suzume Matsu was last seen leaving the Court of Pure Souls three weeks ago. She was not leaving on a mission." Diaz looked at the woman oddly. "Perhaps she was just going for a walk?" Diaz yawned again. "Diaz-san... she's been missing for three weeks!" Diaz frowned again, deeper. "Fine, fine, anything else?" he asked as he stood up, grabbing the sword he had leaning against the desk. "You are to be accompanied by another shinigami." Diaz looked at the woman oddly. "I don't think I really need help." Diaz said coldly. She backed up, bowing, "I'm sorry, but the mission orders are absolute. You'll have to just deal with it. Chousen Asagao will be coming with you."

Diaz nodded. He could handle that. Diaz immediately sent for Chousen Asagao to come to the 5th Division office.

.oOo.

Asagao yawned from where he was sprawled on the roof of the 8th Division offices and looked up to see a messenger standing over him. The messenger, in the distinctive uniform of his corps, didn't bat an eyelid to see a Shinigami assigned to a mission from the Central 46 was apparently napping on the roof of another Division's offices.

"Chousen Asagao. You have been assigned a partner for this mission."

Asagao rolled his eyes. _A partner… oh whoopee doo! Probably some newbie that needs babysat on their first mission, cakewalk though it is._ "Right, right…" he sighed. "Where do I collect them?"

"Kokuei Diaz is waiting for you at the headquarters of the Fifth Division," the messenger reported and then shyunpoed away on his next mission.

Asagao yawned again and then vanished as he shyunpoed himself, across the street and out of the 8th Division area, heading for his destination. _Me and Diaz again,_ he mused. _There must be more to this than I thought._

.oOo.

Diaz yawned as he waited for Asagao to come, resting on his desk again. A knock on his door alerted Diaz to the presence of Asagao, and he sat up, calling, "Come in." The door opened and Asagao entered the room, sitting down on the other side of the desk. "I assume you know the mission details already, then?" Diaz asked, already knowing the answer. When Asagao nodded, Diaz stood up, grabbed his sword and grinned as he grabbed a package of supplies he always kept on hand. "Well, then there is no point in sitting around. I guess we have to track down some loser who ran off."

"Yeah, yeah," Asagao replied dismissively. "Let's get this over with. I want to get Atae back from the Shinigami babysitting her before they spoil her too badly… or she drives them totally insane. One or the other."

He was wearing his own cloak but other than that had no equipment beyond his zanpakutou. Obviously, he didn't expect very much from the mission. "I asked around at Eight Division," he said as they left the building. "She was being considered for recruitment into them so they had the best records of her. Nothing really spectacular but she was reasonably capable. Then, bang! She vanishes. All we've got is the gate she left through."

Diaz nodded, he knew which gate she'd left through too. "Let's head out to the east gate, then." Diaz grinned at his friend as they left the 5th division taisho and began working their way towards the East gate of the Court of Pure Souls. The two shinigami had been working together for so long, they knew each other's strengths and weaknesses pretty well. Diaz looked over his shoulder at his friend, wondering just how much the other man had improved in the time since they'd worked with each other. "Hey, Asagao. Whatever happened to that other sword we found? The one that used to be Atae's dad's sword?"

"Oh, that," Asagao shrugged. "I hung onto it, figured that Atae might want it or that it might be important somehow. I don't carry it around all that much though, so it's back in my quarters. Pretty much everyone knows that Genzoyaibano is a shirasaya, so they tend to ask questions about why I'm carrying a dragon-hilted katana as well. It's not such an exciting story that I want to tell it every time I leave Eleventh Division's quarters."

He adjusted his hakama then tightened his belt a little – the better to move in rather than the loose fit he preferred when basically lounging around and not doing much. "How are those bracers working out for you, anyway? Does anyone ever ask you about those?"

Diaz smiled at Asagao, shaking his head. "Actually, nobody really asked about them except for one person." Diaz said as they walked slowly towards the east gate. "Kyin Fenre asked about them, but only when I brought them to him. He actually modified them, making them far more effective in battle for me." Diaz grinned at Asagao. "These increase my spiritual pressure now, amplifying it slightly. It works nice, since my fighting style is extremely draining on my spiritual energy."

Diaz paused as they passed through the gate, exiting the Court of Pure Souls. "Have you even seen my new style yet, anyhow?" Diaz asked his friend, not remember if he had seen it or not.

Asagao scratched his head. "Do you mean all that dashing back and forth that you did when we were in the dojo last time?" he asked. "Thanks for putting me through the wall by the way - I didn't have to do any paperwork while I was being 'punished' by having to do the repairs. It was bliss."

Diaz laughed at the joke. "Yeah, all that dashing back and forth is my fighting style. It's hard to hit someone if they're not standing in your range at any given time. And bliss, fixing the wall? Compared to papers, you're probably right." Diaz paused, looking to his friend for a moment. "It never goes away, you know. The stronger you get, the more you have to do. I mean, I even see Captain Yukiko having to do tons of paperwork. I'm trying to become the Vice Captain, and when I get the position, I'll probably be doing half of the stuff on her desk..." Diaz frowned at that thought, knowing all to well how many papers Yukiko had on her desk.

"I know," Asagao admitted. "It's one reason I'm not too keen on winding up as a Seated Officer – although I may have to if the current expansion of the other Divisions keeps going the way it seems to be. I'm not in your class any more but I'm not all that far down the list of Shinigami either and spread over more than a dozen divisions that list doesn't go very far." He shrugged. "And it's not the sort of job that can be turned down either – so I guess I'll have to get used to it."

"Anyway," he said as the two Shinigami reached the East Gate. "Any preference how we go about this o mighty future vice-captain of the fifth mighty division of the grand and famous Gotei-13?"

"We ask people if they saw her..." Diaz grinned as he pounded Asagao on the back. "What else would we be able to do? She's been gone for so long, we wouldn't be able to find any information her by tracing spiritual threads or spiritual energy." Diaz laughed as he looked around for people who would likely have been out the day that Suzume left the Court of Pure Souls.

Diaz spotted a fruit vendor and walked up to him, smiling. "Sir, I'm looking for a mission shinigami. Were you out selling fruit about three weeks ago?" Diaz asked the man, waiting for a response.

_About what I figured,_ Asagao agreed privately.

"I was around," the vendor agreed. "But there are a lot of Shinigami who go in and out of here every day – so I may not remember the one you're looking for."

"She'd have left a little before noon," Asagao said. "She wasn't all that tall but very…" he held his hands in front of his chest, indicating that the woman had had a large, um, endowment. "Dark hair, quite a pretty face but I never really looked at that."

Diaz waited for the response from the vendor, nodding when he began to speak. "A female shinigami?" he said, rubbing his chin. "Well, that certainly does make it a little bit easier to remember." Diaz nodded, asking the man to continue. "Well, about three weeks ago, there was a woman who left the Court of Pure Souls, but I don't know if she was a shinigami, because she was dressed differently. She did match your description though, and she bought some fruit from me before she left."

Diaz nodded, "Was there anything else?" he asked quietly. The man looked at Diaz, shaking his head. "Only that she was heading towards the higher districts, sorry." Diaz thanked the man by buying a few pieces of fruit and giving him some extra coins for it. "Thank you, sir." Diaz and Asagao began to walk toward the higher districts.

"Well that was interesting," Asagao said irritably. "No one told me that she was out of uniform when she left. _Maybe I should have paid more attention to the pen pusher back there,_ he thought. Looking around he spotted a familiar face outside a restaurant on the street that they were walking along. "Hold on a moment," he told Diaz and crossed to the girl acting as the greeter. "Hi Mae," he called, with a wink.

"Asagao!" she called back, cheerily. "Back already? Tsunata is going to think you're flirting with her if you eat here every week!"

"Perish the thought," he replied. "There are far too many lovely girls like you around for me to settle down," he said, eyeing the slight cleavage visible above the folds of her dress.

With a snort, the girl swatted him on the head with a wad of the menus that she'd been handing out to passers-by. "Letch," she scolded him and he laughed.

"Seriously," he said. "Were you on door duty three weeks ago? Around noon?"

Mae nodded. "Sure – why'd you ask?"

"One of our Shinigami went missing," he told her. "She came this way, out of uniform, about that time."

"Out of uniform," Mae asked, "or **out** of her uniform."

"Oho!" Asagao chuckled. "And you say that **I** have a dirty mind!" He shook his head and described Suzume Matsu again. "Did you see her?"

Diaz noticed that Asagao was talking with a woman and walked over next to him to hear the girl's response. "Yeah, I saw her. She was buying fruit from the guy across the street as she headed out of town." Diaz laughed, noticing that she said almost the exact same thing as the man himself had said. Diaz interjected, "Yeah, we know that. The man told us that himself. Do you know anything else about her?" Diaz asked, nicely. "Oh, I didn't hear anything, sorry." Mae told the two shinigami.

"Fair enough," Asagao replied calmly. "Give my respects to Tsunata… but nothing more," he told Mae before the two Shinigami set off again along the road. "Well, that's confirmation," he said. "And it doesn't sound as if she was coerced – usually you don't stop for a snack if you're going somewhere under duress."

Diaz nodded. "It looks like she left on her own free will. Think about it...she was in casual clothing, she bought food..." Diaz nodded to himself again. "She must be trying to do something, I don't know what though." Diaz and Asagao began walking in the path of their only lead. "It won't be too hard to find her, since even though people do have spiritual pressure, she was a shinigami, her spiritual pressure will be much higher than any of the people living in Rukongai." Diaz commented to Asagao.

"That assumes that she's still in Rukongai," Asagao replied dourly. "She could travel a fair distance in three weeks if she was minded to do so – or, to look on the bright side, she could be dead. Fat chance of tracing her spiritual pressure in that case. Things may have stabilised a little lately, but three weeks ago was a very very bad time to be a Shinigami out on the streets of Rukongai."

Diaz nodded, hoping that that wasn't the case. "Without enough information, this is like looking for a needle in a haystack, Asagao." Diaz frowned at the idea that Asagao had brought up. "However, I doubt that she died so easily. Of course she'd know it would be dangerous to leave the town, and while she's in a set of casual clothing, she probably was harder to find than a normal shinigami. She wouldn't look the part, you know." Diaz ate one of the apples he'd purchased from the vendor, offering one to Asagao. 

Asagao waved off the offer of fruit. "Well, we'll just have to work with what we have," he said dryly. "We'll ask at every junction we get to, and hope that we can figure out her destination. It's at least possible that we'll get lucky."

And for the first couple of miles their luck held. Suzume, presuming that they had correctly identified the woman who had left Seireitei three weeks before, had gone more or less in a straight line out form Seireitei. It was only after they began to move out of the First District and into the Second that trail seemed to go cold. The street here was a quiet one and no one passing by admitted to having been there three weeks before.

Diaz frowned, not liking the way it was going right now. "I wonder how we'll be able to get the information we need..." Diaz wondered out loud, looking for another person who would have been in the streets at that time as well. _I'd assume she'd head through the second district, as if you were hiding from shinigami, one of the inner districts would not be the best place to hide._ "Asagao, if we can't find any trace of her here, we'll continue on. Hiding in the second district would be a foolish mistake, for someone who doesn't seem like a fool."

"Agreed," Asagao said, then frowned. "Maybe we are going about this the wrong way," he said slowly. "At least in part." He scratched at his bearded chin, staring into the distance, then turned on his heel. "You go on," he said. "But – you know the fountain in the middle of the fourth district? The one of the dolphins?"

Diaz nodded his understanding.

"Meet me there in an hour," Asagao said. "There's someone that I need to talk to."

-/-

Diaz yawned, still a bit drowsy from the office work he'd been doing all day and headed to the fountain immediately arriving there in around fifteen minutes. Sitting down on the edge of it, Diaz leaned back and rested against one of the dolphins, keeping his eyes half open, not feeling quite safe in Rukongai with all the attacks going on. _I wonder what Asagao is going to do, or who he is going to talk to..._

A few minutes after the appointed time, Asagao cleared his throat from around the fountain. He'd approached from behind Diaz, suppressing his spiritual pressure in order to carry out the childish prank of sneaking up on the other Shinigami.

Diaz opened his eyes, grinning as Asagao tried to sneak up on him. "Yo, Asagao!" Diaz grinned at the surprised look on Asagao's face. "You want to know how I knew you were there, huh?" Diaz laughed at his friend's expense. "I was tracing you the entire time you were gone with Atodzukeru." Diaz sat up completely. "Who did you talk to? And what did you find out?" Diaz asked, then thought of something. "And how come you didn't just use that sword of yours' ability to be able to find where this chick went?" 

Asagao pouted at his little stunt fizzled undramatically. "Atusoku?" he asked. "What's that? And I can't just wave Genzoyaibano around and have it find someone, you know. At least," he hesitated, "I don't think that I can. I need them to be looking at the sword blade for it to do it's trick – thus far anyway."

"As for where I went… I had a word with certain… contacts," Asagao said more confidently. "No one important as such, but people who aren't too happy about speaking to a Shinigami, much less one who might be a Vice-Captain soon. The advantages of anonymity, you understand. Not that they would ever do anything illegal, you understand –" There was a sardonic lilt to his voice when he said that, implying that the statement could be believed or not believed. "But nonetheless, I was able to persuade them that I was adequately discreet and that it was very much in their best interests to speak to their contacts among those who make it a business to keep any eye on the comings and goings of travellers in their little corners of Rukongai."

Diaz nodded to Asagao, "Atodzukeru is a meditation ability what allows me to trace spiritual pressure signals and recognize them as patterns. I can't really use it in a fight yet, because it distracts me somewhat. I'll eventually have it down better, and then I'll be able to react to blows and learn the fighting style of my enemy quicker, giving me and advantage." Diaz paused as he stood up to look at the other man. "And, about your friends, do you have the information now or do we have to wait for a bit?

"A couple of leads," Asagao said dryly. "Unfortunately, the best of them comes with a little bit of a sting in the tail. A woman matching our description headed out into a forest in the Seventeenth District. However, those same woods are apparently home to an unidentified predator or scavenger that's done a fair amount of damage to a couple of traders in the area and killed at least three toughs who tried to finish it off. I knew one of them – he'd been kicked out of the Spirit Academy a little before I entered it, but he was a fairly decent hand in a fight. Not easy prey in other words."

Diaz nodded, understanding. "Okay, then we'll head out to the seventeenth district and into the woods. Even though your friend was a decent hand in a fight, I still think that a shinigami, who obviously has her sword with her in some how, would be killed as easily. It's hard to believe someone who was kicked out of the spirit academy would be stronger than a full fledged shinigami." Diaz pondered it over, nodding. "Well, let's go then?"

"Sure," Asagao replied, turning towards the road that led in the correct direction from the fountain. "I'd be surprised if a Shinigami fell as easily prey to this thing as poor Roku, but with that said, the lass **has** been gone three weeks." He ran his hand through his hair as he walked and tsked irritably, undoing his hair and retying it more tightly.

Seventeenth district wasn't all that far out, but the solid mass of Rukongai was far more dispersed and it took stopping for directions a couple of times to establish which of the forests in the district was the one they sought.

Diaz and Asagao had found the forest after asking a few people which way the girl had went, this time actually finding people who weren't worthless, actually having some sort of information. "Well, then. Shall we head in?" Diaz grinned as he began walking without waiting for Asagao's response, entering the so called dangerous woods. "I wonder why type of predator we've got in here, anyways." Diaz wondered out loud, laughing. "I'm sure it's nothing of any sort of real power, besides, I don't think that she's any weakling, so she should be alright."

Asagao shrugged. "I can't feel anything worth mentioning in there," he replied, ignoring a couple of large wildcats who – surprised by the sudden arrival of the two Shinigami – departed as swiftly as they could. Predators the cats might be but they were most explicitly **not** stupid enough to mistake the reitatsu of the two Shinigami for anything but individuals decidedly higher on the food chain. "On the other hand," Asagao said, brushing aside a branch that was in his way into the densely packed foliage, "I'm not the most sensitive to other sources of spiritual pressure. Do you sense anything?"

Diaz spread his senses, not bothering to use Atodzukeru yet, not really seeing a point. "I don't sense anything of importance, just some animals around. I don't even sense our friendly shinigami, but it would be hard to track her until I could have a least a small sensing of her energies." Diaz commented as they made their way through the thick forest. "This forest is amazingly thick, you know." Diaz mentioned as he drew his sword and began using it to slash down annoying plant life that was in the way of the two of them like a machete. "I don't sense anything, still. Let's go further."

With another shrug, Asagao followed Diaz' lead, keeping his eyes and ears open. "Huh," he said after a moment. "That hadn't occurred to me. If it's all this thick then she'd probably have had to hack her way the same way that we are… right? So we could probably still find her trail if we went along the edge and followed it. Unless…" He looked up and then shook his head. "Nah, she couldn't have gone through those branches – too thin and too densely packed."

Diaz thought about it to himself, looking up as well. "You want to freaking bet, Asagao?" Diaz pointed at a path in the branches of fracture and damaged tree branches leading off in a similar but different direction. "Looks like you hit the nail on the head, but we can't do what she did. She's a woman, so she's likely lighter than us, and she already damaged the branches by doing it. And, there are two of us, and we're likely bigger than her too. We'll have to follow her path through the woods on the ground..." Diaz paused, "I probably could use Noukonkaze to blast a pathway through the woods, but I don't know if that would be the best idea. Animals could get hurt, and...we might alert her - or the beast - to our presence." 

Asagao shaded his eyes and stared at the broken branches. "Bloody hell," he exclaimed. "I would have never pegged her as light enough to get up there – not with those big hooters of hers. Just goes to show, you never can tell." He gestured in the direction that the trial seemed to lead. "Let's just walk that way – it's not like hurrying will matter after all this time, and Noukonkaze might wipe out part of the trail if you use it."

This time he took the lead as they pressed on through the heavy bushes until the foliage suddenly parted and they entered a less closely packed part of the forest. Very suddenly in fact, and Asagao looked to either side in surprise. "That's just weird," he said. "There's almost a line where the trees and bushes spread out once you cross it. I've never seen that happen before – not naturally anyway."

Diaz laughed at Asagao's joke, nodding at it. "You're right, they are pretty big." Diaz and Asagao began moving through the thick brush, and when they arrived at the clearing, Diaz heard Asagao speak, confirming his suspicions. "Either someone made this for some reason, or some animal did it." Diaz thought out loud, so Asagao could hear them. "Well, let's see if there are any traces of spiritual energy here. Do you feel anything?" Diaz asked as he closed his eyes and began to take in the feelings of energy.

"No…" Asagao replied, slowly, looking around. Then he shyunpoed away to their right and returned a moment later. "It's not a straight line, thought. It's a curve. Someone's been thickening up the forest along the edges – probably as some sort of barrier. Which suggests that something or someone is hidden in here. And has been for some time – those trees weren't planted yesterday."

He glanced around. "I doubt it's an animal – maybe if it was this area being thinned out, but planting on this sort of scale is a little too bright for a mere animal…"

Diaz frowned. "Could this be the predator? Maybe it's sentient?" Diaz asked Asagao, thinking again. "Or maybe she'd been planning this for some time? If she was, she'd have the time to be making this all set up, as a safe house to stay in... what do you think, Asagao?" Diaz asked another question.

"I think –" Asagao began and then out of the corner of his eyes he saw a sudden movement and reflexively caught hold of Diaz's collar and dragged him aside as a bolt of blue energy hammered into the floor where the other Shinigami had stood. Tearing his sword from it's saya, the blond Shinigami parried a second strike. It was now obvious where the attack was coming from and the tall figure up in the branches was no longer masking his spiritual pressure so perfectly.

"Son of a bitch!" Asagao spat, releasing Diaz and leaping forwards towards their attacker, skipping aside to avoid a third bolt that obliterated a bush that he was passing.

Diaz moved his sword in front of his body. "Who's there? Who are you?" Diaz shouted at the figure who was covered in the shadows of the trees. The man, at least, Diaz thought it was a man, jumped down to the ground, stepping out of the shadows. His arm was covered with a massive bow of energy. "Quincy?" Diaz asked, shocked. "Who are you?" Diaz asked again, holding his sword at a ready, in case the Quincy decided to strike again.

"That's none of your business," the Quincy responded tersely. "You're not welcome here – leave." He was a small man and slightly built but the glowing bow made it clear that he was no one to be taken lightly. He raised the bow, aiming at Asagao.

In response, Asagao shook his head. "Normally I'd be glad to leave you alone," he said flatly. "But we're here on business, not pleasure. A Shinigami went missing recently. She may have been here."

The Quincy heard the unspoken question. "I haven't killed any Shinigami," he said. "Yet."

Diaz stepped in front of Asagao, waving him down slightly. "Look, where is the girl? There were broken branches leading up to here, was it you who did that?"

The Quincy nodded. "I use the branches to get through my self-created barrier. Now, I ask you again. Leave."

Diaz frowned at the rude Quincy. "Look, we mean no harm, We just want to try and find this girl. Do you know anything about her?" Diaz was beginning to get annoyed with the stuck up Quincy, looking to Asagao to see if he had any ideas or plans for their next course of action. 

"Look," Asagao said, in the most conciliatory tone he could manage without dropping his guard. "If she was here then there should be a trace at your barrier. Help us to look for that. The sooner we're done, the sooner we're gone and we'll be out of your hair."

For a moment the Quincy considered the offer and then he lowered his bow. Slightly. "Alright," he agreed. "But only until sunset. Once the sun goes, you go. Whether we find her or not."

Asagao's brow knotted for a moment as he weighed the offer. "Fair enough," he said after a moment.

Diaz sheathed his sword when the bow vanished into spiritons. _That Quincy was stronger than most, I wonder what era he died in?_ Diaz idly thought as he and Asagao moved along with the Quincy. The Quincy lead them along the barriers edge, looking for another break, caused by someone entering the inner part where they were now. "I don't see anything over here, how about you two?" Diaz called out to the other two people who were searching for the breach.

"I ain't found shit!" Asagao called back, disgusted by the lack of progress.

The Quincy however, seemed less sure. He halted in the branches, looking down at the thick foliage and gestured outwards. "What you're looking for is there," he said confidently. "Now **go away**."

Asagao glared at him and made an ancient and mystical sign at the Quincy's back the moment it was turned. Then he turned and forced his way into the bushes, looking for whatever the Quincy had seen. "Well I'll be damned," he said, looking at the small shelter that had been created about halfway through the thicket, branches woven together to create a crude roof over a sheltered hollow. And from the marks on the ground, someone – no, two people - had used the shelter at some point in the not to distant past. And at the same time… which was interesting.

Diaz frowned, noticing the same thing that Asagao had noticed. "She's not alone." Diaz spoke aloud, softly. "What could this mean? Who did she come with? Was it another shinigami?" Diaz quietly asked. "It looks abandoned, thought. But now that we know she's been here, there should be some traces in the air of her spiritual pressure, assuming she's not been gone for too long." Diaz closed his eyes, kneeling as he began to meditate, seeking out the spiritual threads that would connect the woman and her partner to this area. "I sense her presence, the trail she went is that way." Diaz pointed a direction as he stood up. "I don't know who she's with, or if its another shinigami or someone else. But this is definitely confusing..." 

Asagao had entered the shelter himself and emerged with an odd grin on his face. "My my," he said in an amused voice. "Someone's been naughty. I can tell you two things about whoever she's with – one, it's a bloke. And two, they're together… if you know what I mean and I think that you do."

Diaz frowned. That, he didn't need to know. "I didn't need to know that, Asagao." Diaz began moving in the path that the two lovers had left behind. "However, that does bring some light into the situation. If she fell in love with someone who has no spiritual power, he couldn't be allowed to become a shinigami or move into the Seireitei. She may have ran away to be with him. However, that would mean she moves slower than us. Let's go." Diaz ran along the path as quickly as they could. "Well, if it turns out she has just reason to be out here, we could be creatively incompetent." 

Moving easily through the bushes now since there was a path to follow, Asagao looked thoughtful. "Relationships outside of Seireitei aren't that impossible – or at least, I've never thought that they were. How could this relationship – whoever is involved, be so unsuitable that she has to flee like this. Shinigami have married before – a few have even retired, at least into non-combatant roles. Much as I'd like this to be something that we can just brush off, I'm not feeling so optimistic about it."

He walked out of the tree line and looked around. "Any idea how far ahead of us they are?" he asked. "I can barely feel the trail."

Diaz closed his eyes, thinking. "They're quite aways ahead of us, so far that I can't sense them. I can only sense the path they went on, come, let's move faster." Diaz and Asagao began moving at the maximum speed the tightly packed forest path would allow, doing their best to speed up so they could catch up to the missing shinigami. "So, if it's not what I thought it was, Asagao...what do you think is going on?" Diaz asked, interested in his partner's thoughts.

"Meh!" the older Shinigami said. "Dunno. Maybe it's nothing to do with her Shinigami duties that she's running away from – it could be family pressure or the like she's running away from, I don't know anything about the Suzume Clan. Or one or both of them could be criminals or traitors, I'm sad to say. Hiding out here until they finished whatever they were up to and then fleeing." He shrugged his broad shoulders. "The possibilities are endless I'm afraid – we'll just have to find out from them, I guess."

Diaz nodded, continuing along the path. "I can sense them, Asagao. We're getting closer!" Diaz whispered, suppressing his reitatsu to the minimum level he could. "Try to keep quiet when we get closer, we need to have the element of surprise. They're still moving, and I'm assuming that they have no idea we're following them." Diaz moved at the same speed, the maximum that the forest area would allow, thinking to himself in overdrive. _I hope they're not doing anything that I'd have to kill one of them for. Killing someone's loved one is not on my to-do list today._ Diaz frowned, actually deciding the best order of things would be kill neither of them, followed by kill both of them. Killing just one of them would really suck.

Asagao nodded and matched the taller Shinigami's pace, felling their subdued spiritual pressures touching each other. "Stay out of their line of sight," he suggested. "We might find out more observing them alone than if we go straight in with our questions."

He tapped the hilt of Genzoyaibano. "And although it might be detected, my lady here might give us a hint or two at what's going on if we can't figure it out any other way."

Diaz nodded as they began bearing down on the pair of people that they were looking for. "They've stopped moving." Diaz whispered quietly, inching his way through the trees as quiet as he could, trying to get as close as possible to the two people they were chasing down without being noticed. _I'm afraid that he's right, if he uses his sword we will be detected._ Diaz glanced to that sword, frowning. _That sword has one evil ability, I must say._

Asagao ghosted along, his red cloak almost entirely masked by the shadows he tried to stay within and his sandals silent as he crossed the uneven ground on light feet. _I can feel their reitatsu,_ he thought, _and the man's as strong as she is – no match for either of us, I think, but no lightweight. Too strong to risk using Genzoyaibano if I want to stay hidden. Through a small gap in the bushes he saw the woman. Matsu Suzume looked much as she had been described. Quite a nice face, but she wasn't smiling right now. Some thing seemed to be weighing on her mind. The man was similarly tense – stocky and powerfully built he had two swords, the hilts visible over his shoulders, and a scowl on his face._

Diaz frowned. ITwo swords, huh? Not many people carry two swords, and even fewer have the ability to have as both as zanpakutou. But this man seems to be a shinigami... Diaz thought quietly as he backed a bit further out of range, summoning reiraku, spirit threads where they wouldn't be able to see him. _I was right, there are four red threads here, signifying that all of us are shinigami._ Diaz moved back into range, stepping besides Asagao silently, whispering what he'd found out into the other man's ear.

_Shinigami…_ Asagao thought. _Interesting… I wonder why he wasn't reported missing as well. And who is he to have two swords? That's vanishingly rare – I could count on my fingers the number of Shinigami to have a pair of zanpakutou. I suppose he might have trained to use a second, ordinary weapon, but what for?_

He scuttled onward a short distance, keeping pace with them without rising high enough that the colour of his cloak, out of place in the woods, might give him away.

Diaz kept even with Asagao, straining his ears to try and hear what they were saying to no avail. "Asagao, can you hear what they're saying?" Diaz whispered as low as he could sure the other man could her what he was saying. _I can't tell a damn thing about what is going on... dammit!_ Diaz thought angrily, getting ready to just burst through the trees and find out with his sword, patience wearing thin.

Asagao shook his head, setting his braid swaying, and looked at them again. No, he couldn't make out anything. They were just travelling, to what purpose he couldn't guess with any accuracy. He gestured for Diaz to back up and held his position, letting the two walk on far enough that they would be able to carry out a conversation without alerting the duo to their presence.

"Look," he said. "Let's just get ahead of them and let them run into us. No point being confrontational about this."

Diaz nodded, agreeing. "We can use flash steps to get ahead of them without making noise, just keep your pressure concealed as you do so." Diaz vanished from where he was standing, using a flash step to get into the tree branches, using another one, followed by another one to get ahead. _This way, they won't be able to hear or see me as I move ahead of them._ Diaz stopped for a moment, above them, noticing them looking around oddly, but not noticing him. "Must be an animal." The man said as Diaz used a few more flash steps to pass them and land on the floor of the forest, waiting for Asagao to catch up.

A few moments later, Asagao joined him on the path, having taken a longer route and in order to stay on the ground. He scratched at his head and then leant on a tree waiting for the couple to walk into view. A moment later, that was what happened. The woman was first, stepping around a tree and hesitating as she saw the two Shinigami. The man came next and he frowned as he saw Diaz and Asagao. "Good evening," Asagao said pleasantly. "Rather crowded in the woods tonight, isn't it?"

Diaz nodded to Asagao, smiling nicely. "It seems we aren't the only one's who wanted to take a stroll." Diaz had to keep himself from laughing at the cheesy act they were putting on. "Anyways." Diaz turned to the new arrivals, Suzume and her partner. "What brings you this far out into the woods on this fine evening?" _If that man reaches for his sword, he's going to lose his hand._ Diaz thought to himself, one eye on the partners in front of him and one eye on Asagao.

"With all due respect, Shinigami," the man said. "I don't think that that's any business of yours." He kept his hands clear of his weapons but there was a definite readiness to fight on his part, or at the least, an unreadiness to back down.

Asagao shook his head. "Well, I don't know," he said. "**Is** that any of our business, Matsu Suzume?" he asked the woman. "Because if it isn't I've been dragged away from the comforts of the big city into the middle of the woods for reasons that have yet to be explained to me. Would you know any reason why that might be?"

Diaz nodded, stepping forward. "You." Diaz was looking directly at the man. "What's your name and who are you?" Diaz made sure to sound authoritive. "That's none of your business," came a similar response to the last answer he said. Diaz looked at Asagao, frowning. "Then, shall I make you tell me?" Diaz decided to put some force behind it, his hand hovering over his katana.

The man also stepped forward, hands hovering over his swords as well. "You have no idea who you're dealing with." He said, trying to match Diaz's tone. "No, sir. I think you have no idea who you are dealing with. I'm Kokuei, Diaz, of the 5th Division." Diaz said confidently.

Suzume looked at Asagao. "Please, restrain your friend," she said. "I'm leaving – don't get in our way."

"I may not have to be in your way," Asagao replied. "My friend's a little short-tempered sometimes but if you can give me a good reason maybe I'll just stand aside. It's up to you. We can talk about this or…" he turned to the man. "…or you can draw that sword. And we shed blood on this matter. So," he said with deliberate calm. "Tell me. Talk or fight?"

Diaz smirked at the man, just begging him to draw that sword. "I don't know who you are, but if you lay one finger on that sword, you won't live to regret it." Diaz said, harshly. Turning to the woman, Diaz repeated the question that Asagao had posed. "We're not mean people. We're actually nice, in comparison to most of the shinigami around. Now, I could be, shall we say, semi-incompetent in writing my report about this mission when I get back, saying you were killed sometime during your runaway, and this conversation we're having right now... happened with a corpse. Or I can make that a reality. It's one or the other, and that is your choice."

"You **SONUVABITCH** shouted the man, and his wakizashi arced from it's scabbard. "No, wait!" protested Suzume, too late. The man was fast – far too fast, far more skilled that his spiritual pressure had indicated. "Dammit, Diaz!" Asagao snapped in the fleet second as Genzoyaibano swept out of her scabbard, but there was no time for him to intervene. _We've underestimated him – badly!_ The blade was no zanpakutou, but there was something to it nonetheless and Diaz had better dodge it because it was far too late for a parry…

The sword hit nothing but air, Diaz already having drawn Noukonkaze while using a flash step to appear next to Suzume, his sword pointing sideways away from his body. "You're quite fast," Diaz grinned at the man. "But are you faster than I am? Would you be able to get to me before I can kill her?" Diaz threatened idly, smiling. Asagao probably knew that Diaz wouldn't actually do something like that, but neither the girl or the man would know that. _I think this one is a pretty good bluff._ "You want to put that sword away or...?" Diaz prompted ominously.

Asagao knew it was a bluff alright – but he suspected strongly that it was the wrong bluff to make because the man shyunpoed himself, to stand behind Diaz, katana drawn now and that wasn't a zanpakutou either. "I don't like threats," he grated and pointed his wakizashi at Asagao. "Lay one finger on her and you're both dead."

"Whoa, whoa," Asagao interjected, keeping his blade ready but low, a defensive stance. "I don't know what's going on but bloodshed won't answer any questions for us and I don't think it'll help you two any – whoever wins. All we're here for is to find out why Matsu Suzume has been missing for three weeks. Give us a decent reason, dammit, we don't have to do this the hard way."

Suzume frowned at him and slowly drew her own sword – and it was a zanpakutou alright, unlike the man's blade. "Would you believe, we're eloping?" she asked dryly.

"Hardly necessary," Asagao pointed out. "Try again."

She shook her head. "No. We're too close now – and I can't let you stand in our way."

Diaz frowned, using another flash step to appear next to Asagao. "We will kill you if you do not give us a good answer. If you don't give us a good answer, I'm going to assume whatever you're doing is not for the good of Soul Society, and we will be forced to take... actions to prevent it." Diaz frowned, holding his sword with his right hand, blade resting on his should, left hand out in front of his body. "Don't underestimate us." Diaz said coldly. "I know what rank shinigami you were, Suzume, and I can assure you, my power far surpasses yours." Diaz then began to whisper to Asagao. "If the battle begins, I'll handle the two sworded bastard, you hand the woman." Diaz disliked fighting women for some reason, ever since fighting Yukiko Murray when joining the fifth division.

"Ebány!" Suzume called, interrupting the whispered conversation, and for a moment Asagao thought she was naming the man. "Raikiri!" And her sword blade dissolved into a golden chain and he knew that she was not speaking to her companion.

"Bugger," he replied, wheeling to manoeuvre her away from Diaz, letting the two Shinigami fight back to back. _Nothing in her records about having reached shikai,_ he mused. _I wonder what else they missed,_ he thought as the chain lashed out at his head and he parried, twisting the tip of Genzoyaibano in one of the links to flick the strike aside. He grimaced as electricity arced along the chain but contact had been broken almost immediately.

Diaz frowned at the release of her shikai, quickly pushing Asagao out of the way, "You fight the man." Diaz grinned at Asagao's weird look, and continued. "My sword renders me immune to the sensation you just felt, this woman's sword is just like Taiken Yuusuke's, electricity on contact. But, watch." Diaz stepped towards the woman, raising his sword above his head. "Kaze no koi wa atsui, kimi no nozomi wa boku no gechi. Atemi, Noukonkaze!" The wind around Diaz spun towards his sword, the base of the sword becoming wrapped in wind. The wind grew up the blade, turning into the blade of wind that was Noukonkaze's shikai form. "Suzume, your enemy is me." Diaz saw Suzume using her chain to swing at Diaz, who blocked it with his sword, easily. No electricity was conducted through his blade of wind. "My shikai counters your shikai, Suzume. Back down."

Asagao nodded his understanding and switched his attention to the man, blocking a strike by his wakizashi and then jumping back from a strike by the katana. "This is going to be interesting," he muttered. "Genzoyaibano! Seigun!" Light ran up the katana's blade and Asagao winced. The other man didn't.

That didn't surprise Asagao. His opponent was the closest thing to implacable that he had ever seen. He had a mission, something to do with Suzume, and he saw Asagao and Diaz as nothing but obstacles to be crushed. Killed.

Diaz avoided the chain twice, slashing it down a third time. "You'll have to do better than that, Suzume-chan." Diaz taunted, the woman's face flush with anger. She lashed out violently, a storm of chain strikes raining down on the spot where Diaz was standing, but he wasn't there anymore. Diaz was in the branches of a tree, hanging there with his left hand. "Oh oh... anger anger!" Diaz taunted again, throwing a Kaze no Tsubasa down at her, knocking the chain into the floor. "So you like whips and chains, huh?" Diaz kept taunting. "Does lover-boy over there know about your fetish? Or does he take a part of it?" Diaz smirked annoyingly. The woman lost control of her anger completely, lashing out everywhere with the chain, but unable to hit her target as he darted around the forest floor. Trees were getting crushed by the chain, leaves were falling and dust was kicking up. "Hey, Asagao! Got some anger management issues over here!" Diaz poured some more fuel on the fire.

"I know you have," Asagao replied, not turning his head. "I could – hmph - recommend you a - ur - good therapist if you're - mehre - interested in getting yourself - yeet - under control." He offered as he defended himself from the pattern of attacks that were being directed at him. Seeing an opening he feinted and let his opponent turn it away from the feigned weakness before dropping to a squat and landing a kick against the man's ankle.

"So…" he asked as the other man recovered his balance, favouring his ankle a little – "How long has your lady friend been spying on the Eighth Division? Is she the real Suzume or did she replace her some time?" he asked, taking a stab in the dark. "Come on, satisfy my curiosity – you're going to kill me anyway, right?"

Diaz overhead Asagao's assumption, nodding. _I think he's right... holy hell he has to be! The 8th division is the research and development division!_ Diaz decided to pick it up. "By the way, Asagao!" Diaz called out. "I wasn't talking about me, dammit!" Diaz evaded the chain, running down the length of it with Noukonkaze's wind blade pushing it off to the side. Arriving an inch from Suzume's face, Diaz smirked as he kneed her in the gut, staggering her. She went to raise her hand and swing the chain whip again, but Diaz grabbed her hand, stopping the movement. "So, what did you learn, Suzume? Or, what is your real name?" Diaz asked, holding her from moving with his superior spiritual pressure.

"I was! You're the one who star- Look out!" Asagao shouted as his opponent suddenly hurled his wakizashi across the path towards Diaz. With his sword busy blocking the katana, Asagao was unable to parry the attack, but he was able to catch his opponent's outstretched arm and leapt up to kick it with both feet while the opportunity lasted. The result was a sickening crack and the man found himself with a broken left arm to add to his dodgy ankle.

"Hmm, maybe you're not going to kill me," Asagao suggested. "Wanna try begging for your life? It's never worked yet, but there's always a first time…"

Diaz heard Asagao's warning and rotated his body, dropping the girl's hand, and raising his hand at the incoming wakizashi. "Hadou #33, Soukatsui." Diaz bypassed the spell, not going to even try to say the incantation as it would have been too slow. The flat kidou projectile rocketed out of Diaz's hand, hitting the wakizashi and exploding on contact, destroying the sword. Diaz barely had the time to jump over the electric chain that was flying at him, the girl swinging it just as he let go of her hand. "Fiesty, eh?" Diaz evaded a few more attacks from the chain, glancing over his shoulder at Asagao to see what was going on at that front.

A year ago, heck, scant months ago, the still unnamed man would have posed a major threat to Asagao. In the Gotei-13 he'd have been a seated officer, which made him all the more mysterious since Asagao had never heard of him. Obviously, he represented some outside ground and it must be a potent one. However, now, after the experiences and opponents that Asagao had faced since the Academy, he wasn't as formidable opponent as he would have been.

Simply put, it was Asagao who held the initiative of the battle. Perhaps if the man still had his wakizashi it would have been different but katana to katana, it was the Shinigami who was winning and both of the knew it. Unless something changed soon it was merely a matter of time.

Diaz let Suzume swing her chain sword a few more times, before getting sick of dealing with it. Diaz sharpened Noukonkaze all the way, once more stepping well into the girl's personal space, this time letting her swing her sword one last time. Diaz turned, using the force of rotation the slash downward extremely hard on the last link of the chain, shattering it and sending the chain spiralling out of control until it dissipated and the sword returned to it's sealed state, completely broken right above the hilt. Diaz knew that the sword would regenerate given enough time, probably a day or two, but Diaz didn't plan on giving her the time she'd need for the sword to regenerate. "Now, talk." Diaz held Noukonkaze, now sealed to the woman's throat.

"I would rather die," she said flatly, steeling herself.

For the first time, something like fear appeared in the eyes of Asagao's opponent and he caught a cut on his wounded arm rather than on his sword, taking the opportunity to land a minor cut on Asagao's upper arm and charge up the path towards Suzume. His left hand lay on the ground where he had fought Asagao but he was ahead of his pursuer as he raised his other hand and muttered something Asagao could not make out.

A thunderous detonation of light and sound rocked the forest and Asagao ploughed headlong into a tree, covering his face with his free hand. "Fuck it!" he snarled as he tried to blink away the flaring afterimages that clouded his vision.

Diaz turned around, when he heard the explosion behind him, seeing the man charging him directly. Diaz jumped over the one-armed man as he ran right into his lover, barely missing her with his sword. "Idiot." Diaz whispered, "Bakudo #61, Rikijyoukourou." The sheets of kidou slammed into their target, trapping the hugging pair in the sheets of kidou together. "Now, that both of you are totally incapacitated, how about you tell us what's going on? Or does Asagao need to take revenge for being blown into the tree?"

"I'm sorry," the man whispered to Suzume, ignoring Diaz entirely.

"Do it," she said, resting her face against his shoulder. "Do it now, Asagiri."

Asagao's eyes widened. "DIAZ! Don't let –"

There was a flicker of movement within the binding and then a second detonation, this one tightly confined by the sheets of kidou, erupted.

"Dammit…" Asagao said, looking at where the Bakudo held not two living souls but their gory remains. "Damn – they must have had orders not to be taken alive."

Diaz snapped his fingers, letting the bakudou fall to pieces and dissapate. "Well, at least we know exactly what happened. I know what to write in the report now. I was hoping that it wouldn't come so far that we would have to see more bloodshed, but if she was really a spy for someone, then we had no choice. She had too much information from the 8th division to let live, anyways. Shall we return?" Diaz asked his friend and partner.

Asagao rolled his eyes. "Yeah – everything's nicely dealt with," he growled. "Except…" He paused to cast a minor chiyudo on his arm. "Except," he repeated, "for a few tiny little inconsequential details. Why did she break her cover and flee? And why didn't she leave immediately instead of hanging around for three weeks in that forest? What had she found out and had she relayed anything to her bosses? Who are her bosses?" He ticked off each question on his fingers as he began to walk back towards Seireitei. "And was that really Matsu or an impostor? How long had she been in Seireitei? She's been around for a hundred years or so – she could easily have always been a spy…" Then he paused and grinned. "Boy, I'm glad that you're volunteering to write the report on this one.. It'll be good practise for all the paperwork you'll be doing as a Vice Captain."

"Meh." Diaz just said as they began to walk through the forest on their way back to Seireitei. "Don't remind me." Diaz began following the twisting path they had created to get out here, not sure exactly where the town would be otherwise. "I have a feeling that we have yet to see the end of this." Diaz commented over his shoulder to Asagao as they trekked single file through the narrow path through the woods. Without their mission to worry about anymore, Diaz and Asagao felt lighter, less burdened. Now that the mission was completed and they had found out what exactly the 'beast' was, just a Quincy, there was nothing really to worry about as they headed home to Seireitei. "I think we'll end up having another assignment about this sort of mission again, Asagao. Since we know something is up, and this has got to be... just the beginning."

"Feh, whatever happened to good old-fashioned pureeing… sorry, **purifying** Hollows and helping Pluses to move on? This whole Shinigami lark is getting far more political than I had ever imagined." Asagao rolled his eyes. "I was hoping for a nice conscienceless romp through life, not having to take responsibility for decisions that could affect hundreds or thousands of people." He grinned. "Just another reason why I'm not really suited to being an officer, in my book."

Diaz laughed. "I wouldn't mind being in the lead, but I do think I'm going to mind sitting behind a desk waiting for something 'important' enough for me to take care of. Oh well, not much choice, huh? Take the good with the bad." Diaz looked over at his friend, laughing, "I need a drink before we head back for paperwork."

Asagao chuckled himself. "Yeah, what the hell, if we always got what we wanted, life would be boring, but oh! So sweet," he added with a lecherous smirk. "A drink, eh? I think I remember a little bar over in the next district that serves pretty decent beers – they brew it themselves, do something with apples that gives it a distinctive taste. How do you feel about giving it a try? They're usually open until the sun is up so we can make it if we run a little."

Diaz slammed Asagao on the shoulder. "Sounds good, let's go then!" Diaz began to run through the forest along the path they'd created, making sure to keep his speed even with Asagao's. Hurrying through the woods, the two friends decided to avoid the resident Quincy, since he was the kind of person that if you didn't do anything to him, he wouldn't do anything to you. So, the two friends arrived in the district to head over to the bar and drink until the sun decided to show it's face. Thoughts of paperwork left their minds as they drank themselves into oblivion. 

.oOo.

It was the combination of a fist thumping against his door and of Atae's outraged screams at being woken by the sudden noise that dragged Chousen Asagao out of his slumbers. Sitting up on his bedroll, he lifted Atae out of her crib, which he had made himself out of a small cask, and cradled her reflexively against his bare chest as he kicked off his blankets and rolled to his knees and then his feet in a single fluid movement.

His free hand lifted Genzoyaibano from her stand and he kicked the latch with one bare foot – knowing that there would be no good news delivered at this hour of the night but that there might be visitors, hostile and univited, that he would not want to greet without being prepared for battle.

Thus it was that as the door swung open, the Shinigami who had been knocking and the cook behind saw him standing with his zanpakutou at the ready, a lean broadshouldered man clad only in a loincloth, gingery beard bristling and locks of blond hair haloed around his head as he held a baby against himself with the arm not encumbered by a sword.

"Eleventh division…" the young shinigami groaned. He should have known that there would be some sort of craziness when he agreed to come here.

He was cut off however by Asagao, who had recognised Itame instantly. "What?" he asked shortly, eyes blazing with reflected light from the Shinigami's lantern.

"This man insisted -" the shinigami began, before Asagao waved him to silence, not taking his eyes off Itame.

"Osaku's missing," Itame reported flatly. "Taken – someone broke into our rooms above the restaurant."

Asagao frowned. "Osaku?" he said in a puzzled voice, as if unable to understand what Itame had told him. "Why would –" Then he groaned. "Not for her – for me."

Itame nodded. "There was a note." He passed over the small roll of paper and Asagao thrust Genzoyaibano's tip into the wood of the doorsill in order to free a hand to take it. His face hardened as he read the one word there. "'Chomei'," he muttered. "Damn you Leodis. You've gone too far."

.oOo.

Okango was a trading town, located at a crossroads on the broad plains of the Fifty-First District of East Rukongai. Traders from the great metropolis around the Shinigami city of Seireitei came her often to arrange the purchases of foodstuffs, textiles and stones – the latter from the famed quarries dug into the plains north of the town. Great caravans would form at Okango every month or so to carry these goods into the central districts and, less often, to lesser Rukongai cities.

But no matter how busy its markets were at times, and no matter how rowdy it's caravanserai could get, Okango had one rule from which it had never strayed in over two centuries. The city gates were always sealed when the sun set and not opened again until sunrise. There had been too many cases during the Great Hollow War of Hollows entering settlements in the guise of ordinary travellers and at least this way the guards could be sure of getting a good look at anyone entering the town. There were the odd exceptions – people who really did need to enter or leave late, but they had to make use of a small and heavily guarded postern gate.

It was to this portal that Chousen Asagao came, the sun having gone through it's full cycle since he had been rousted out of his bed, appearing out of the darkness and into the light cast by the lanterns above the gate between one gust of wind and the next. His sandals, tabi and hakama were stained by the soft dirt of the road and his crimson cloak rippled around him in the wind. Beneath the brim of his straw hat, only his eyes could be seen – gleaming reflections of the lantern's flames.

But beneath his cloak he wore the easily recognizable white-trimmed black of a Shinigami and the shape of a sheathed katana was at his hip, so while the outer guard gave him a searching look, he sounded no alarm, merely lifting his spear and calling: "Halt, who goes there." Obviously, he'd been read too many bad adventure stories when he was a child.

Asagao raised his hand in greeting, but did not speak until he was close enough for his face to be clear. Mindful of Okango's (occasionally justified) paranoia about Hollow infiltration, he halted out of reach of the man's spear and removed his hat. "Good evening," he greeted the guard. "I'm expected."

The guard frowned in thought. "Uh… no one told me that we were expecting a Shinigami to visit today. I think I'd remember something like that," he contradicted.

Asagao shook his head. "Ah, my mistake. I mean that I'm expected by one of Okango's citizens – Avana Leodis, you may know her? – I don't know if she'd have mentioned my arrival to your officers. She did go to great lengths to invite me here though. I'd hate to disappoint her after all the trouble she went to."

The guard's cleared. "Oh! You must be an officer or something, right?" he asked. "Come to hear about that murdering bastard, Chousen Asagao?"

The shinigami inclined his head. "Of the Eleventh Division of the Gotei-13," he replied – a response that could be taken as an agreement without commiting himself to a lie. "Actually, she said that she might be in the town this evening and that I should seek her at a ruin a couple of miles north if she wasn't. IS there a ruin out in that direction?"

"Who's down there?" came a call from the wall above them, interrupting the conversation.

"A Shinigami," the guard called back. "He's here to see Avana Leodis – says that she's expecting him."

"Leodis!?" the officer above said incredulously. "She's not here – she left for Seireitei weeks ago!"

The guard grinned and mouthed 'little brother' to Asagao who raised one eyebrow and masked his concernation. He'd met the lad, all those years ago, at Leodis' marriage ceremony and it was definitely possible that he might be recognised if he was seen in good light. He'd not changed that much, after all. "I'll head for the ruins then," he said. "Thank you for your assistance."

The guard started. "Here!" he protested. "You can't mean to go there at night man! The place is haunted! We'd be honoured to put you up for the night, you know. You could meet Leodis tomorrow."

"A haunting is all the more reason to go there," Asagao answered. "I am, after all, a Shinigami. Such matters are my business." He turned, cloak swirling dramatically around him, and replaced his hat, tying the cords under his chin to hold the woven straw assemblage securely against the force of the wind.

"Wait!" came a call. The sound of running feet came from behind the gate and it burst open to reveal a young man who bore an obvious family resmblence to Leodis. He wore the heavy leather coat of a guard and carried a jitte and a short blade at his belt. The two weapons were merely spiriton but would suffice against anything but a Hollow or a Shinigami. "Wait, Shinigami-dono!"

Asagao halted and turned, keeping his face in the shadow of his hat brim. "Can I help you?" he asked.

"You think that my sister has gone there?" the youngster asked in a worried voice.

"It seems likely," Asagao replied. "Since she isn't here…"

The man, who Asagao recalled was named Sado, after some long ago historic figure, nodded firmly. "Then I'll go with you," he asserted. "And bring her back. I don't care if Chomei is one of the haunts, it's not safe for her to be there."

"Ah… sir…!" the guard protested weakly.

"Tell the sergeant that I've gone with the Shinigami," Sado ordered. "He'll under stand why. Besides, Shinigami-dono will require a guide – it's not easy to find at night." With that said, he ran across the circle of light to follow Asagao into the darkness outside Okango's walls.

_Bloody hell,_ Asagao cursed to himself. _I don't __**believe**__ this! I'm lucky enough that he hasn't recognised me already and now I've got to walk several miles with him!?_

.oOo.

In the end it took them less than an hour to reach it. By playing up the role of taciturn Shinigami and at one point muttering meanlingless prayers in an archaic dialogue when Sado looked prone to start a conversation, Asagao managed to avoid actually talking to the boy.

Now the building site reared up above them, a tangle of broken walls and tumbled timbers. It was at the top of the hill and had once yielded a spectacular view across the plains around them. Once Asagao had seen it through the eyes of an architect, full of potential for splendor. But now it had a haunted aspect and he could feel the subtle spirit of it's history pressing against his eyes were those of a warrior and they knew that blood had been spilled here.

"Not very inviting," he said dryly.

Sado chuckled nervously. "No," he admitted. "I can't come here without thinking about what happened."

"I doubt that you know everything that happened here that night," Asagao said. "And there have been other nights, I feel. There is more here than there seems."

"I know that my sister's husband was killed here!" Sado exclaimed. "Chomei and five of his oldest friends!"

"I know," Asagao said quietly. "But there are worse things than simple murder and I doubt that that night was even a tithing of the evil that has been done here."

The storm broke as they climbed the hill, rain pouring down on them and flashes of lightning sending sudden light and shadows to hide their path. Rain fell from the brim of Asagao's hat like a waterfall and the colour of his claak was darkened by the moisture that sank into it. It was something of a relief to reach the slight shelter offered by the ruins, the half-broken walls shielding them from the worst of the wind and rain. Asagao, drier beneath his garb than Sado, whose sodden hair had not prevented rain from running down his collar. Frowned as he felt the reitatsu within the bloodstained structure. He reached over and caught Sado's arm with one hand while the other hand drew his zanpakutou from its scabbard.

"We're not alone," he whispered.

Sado paused and looked around. "You see my sister?" he asked in a voice that Asagao could have heard from half-way across the site.

The Shingami sighed as he felt the reitatsu shift in response to the sound. "If it is then she is not alone," he said grimly and moved forwards watchfully.

Sado followed, drawing his own blade in imitation of Asagao. The Shingami could feel the other presences gathering near the centre, where he could remember a large open space that had been intended for a courtyard or garden. It was an obvious place for a confrontation and behind the protection of his hat's brim he rolled his eyes at the dramatic posturing of the choice.

"Isn't that your sister?" he asked softly, pointing through the entrance into the darkness of the yard. Sado stepped forwards to see and then staggered forwards and in as Asagao shoved him violently in the back with his free hand. Drving the tip of Genzobaiyano into a handy timber the Shinigami brought his hands together and muttered a quick kidou, sending a cloud of blue mist in around the youngster.

Immediately there was shouting from within and the sound of two swords clashing followed by a death rattle. Over the chaos a familiar voice rang out: "Damn you, Asagao!" Leodis shrieked. "No tricks or the girl dies!"

"Oneesan?" came a surprised voice from within the crowd and as it dissipated covers were removed from a couple of lantersn to one side of the yard, providing supplemental illumination to the occasional flashes of lightning above them.

"Sado!" Leodis cried out in shock as she saw her brother, bloody sword in hand as he stood over one of the her hired swordsmen. "What are you doing here?"

"What amd **I** doing here?" Sado asked in shock. "What are **you** doing here? Why are you threatening that girl?" he demanded, indicating Kiryu Osaku, who lay to one side of Leodis, one of the swordsmen standing over her with his sword raised. Self-conciously, the man relaxed his sword as eyes around the yard settled upon him.

"She's my hostage against Asagao, you idiot!" Leodis snapped. "I don't know what crazed scheme he's using her for but as long as I have her he has to come here."

"**Asagao**?" Sado exclaimed, "but… the Shinigami said you invited **him** here?"

"Shingami?" Leodis demanded. Then her eyes widened. "Asagao! It must be him!"

There was a crunch from where Osaku lay and a cry of surprise as the swordsman who had threatened her was batted aside and tumbled across the paving. He crashed against a never-completed pillar of stone but rose shakily to his feet and lifted his sword from where he had fallen. Looking up, he and all those gathered there saw a red figure standing over the girl.

Slowly the red clad Shinigami removed his sodden straw hat and flung it aside to reveal golden hair and blazing blue eyes behind wireframed spectacles. His beard, matted by wind and rain, was forked, two spikes of gingery hair jutting out from his chin.

"Chousen," snarled the swordsman.

"Morino," Chousen Asagao replied coldly, recognising his old enemy from the Spirit Academy. He looked around the yard and saw hostility in all eyes. "You know, if this keeps up, I'm gonna start thinking that people around here... just don't like me."

.oOo.

Asagao weighed his opponents thoughtfully. Morino hadn't even graduated the academy so he would be little challenge, but his companions were unknown quantities and he did not like the blades that they carried. He'd faced their like before and although he'd triumphed, the matter had left a bad taste in his mouth. Leodis and Sado posed little physical threat to him but they might endanger Osaku – and he would have to consider her a possible danger – if Leodis had turned her then she might be no mere prisoner waiting for him to rescue.

"Give it up, Asagao!" called Leodis. "You're outnumbered and justice is on our side!"

"Outnumbered?" he asked. "I don't see it that way. "You brought a girl, " he indicated where Osaku still lay, apparently oblivious to the confrontation around her. "…and I brought a girl." His cloak flared inder a gust of wind to reveal Atae nestled in her sling at his side, green eyes looking at Leodis with all the innocence of a swaddling babe in them. Leodis opened her mouth to denounce the Shinigami's recklessness in bringing a baby into the battle but Asagao spoke first. "You brought a half-dozen 'friends' and in this place, Avana Leodis, I shall always have stout friends at my side."

It took a moment for the implication of his words to sink in and Leodis' face went from displaying mere outrage to an ugly degree of hate as she relaised to whom her enemy refered. "You dare!?" she shrieked. "You dare to count them friends? You? You who murdered them!?"

In response Asagao reached out and touched a broken timber where it lay angled between wall and floor. "We should never have built here," he said sadly. "Foolish of us. Tragically foolish. And you should not have brought this feud here, this urge to spill blood. That is foolishness on your part."

"We are not the same!" Leodis shouted. "We are nothing alike."

"You came here intent on reaving my life," Asagao said sadly. "I am here in pursuit of the feeble hope that your life may be spared. We are indeed nothing alike."

Beneath him he felt a movement within the ground, a subtle vibration, a wakefulness that had not been there before. Weak as it was, he felt it to be stronger than the last time he had known it. Perhaps it was merely that his senses were keener, but he thought not. No, more likely it was stronger that it had been when he and that force had faced each other. Turning to Sado he rapped out his orders in a commanding tone. "Take your sister home, kid. Take her home unless you want her to share the grave of poor Chomei. This is no place for man or beast – not with what wakes here."

"You killed Chomei!" Ledois cried out. "Kill him Sado! Avenge my husband – all of you, **attack**!"

Sado hung back, hesitating as who what course to act upon, but Morino had no such scruples – he and the others charged forwards, a pack of wolves believeing perhaps that the sorrow felt by their prey was weakness and hungry for his blood. With a curse on his lips, Asagao leapt to meet them, Genzoyaibano a blur of silver in the plae light of the lanterns. He turned Morino's cut aside and let the force of the charge draw the failed student into a rising kick that sent him exploding backwards to lie groaning upon the floor not far from Osaku.

Then the others were upon him and half the yard descended into the scramble of wild melee and Asagao parried what he could not dodge, a crimson flash of brightness among the dark colours of his foes. "Enshin!" he called out and light ran along the blade of Genzoyaibano as he unsealed the blade at it's own prompting, not with the command that it had taught him before – coincidentally in a previous meeting with Leodis. And the green jade eyes of the child at his side were not the only ones to watch over him, for so too were the eye of a zanpakutou.

"Leodis!" he shouted. "Blood spilt in innocence, by no more than chance, raised the thing that killed my friends. And now there's blood shed by violence on the floor – it's stirring! Run for your very life – because if I kill these poor fools then it'll rise for certain and all hell will be out for high noon."

"You're insane," she spat back and produced a strung bow from behind her back, nocking an arrow to aim at him.

"On any night, Leodis, you would be wrong. Tonight… tonight we are all crazed for being here. One last time: get out of here! You may still have time!"

With a last sneer she loosed the arrow, waiting for a moment when his back was turned so that he could parry the attack of another of the grey-clad mercenaries. But even if his own eyes could not see the arrow, the blade of his zanpakutou could and reflexively, he sidestepped to let the arrow pass. The mercenary slumped, the arrow's fletching buried in his throat and Asagao winced as he realised what had happened.

As if in slow motion he saw the corpse fall backwards, crumpling onto Morino. The swordsman had been stood behind his comrade and the sudden move caught on his blade, spilling a fan of blood onto both Morino and the floor.

Beneath them Asagao felt a hunger rise and saw the blood sink tracelessly into the floor. "NO!" he shouted and the floor _rippled_ under Morino, dropping him to his knees. The young man screamed wordlessly as the seemingly solid stone opened around his face and he saw the truth beneath the little knoll that Asagao and his friend had once tried to build upon.

Saw the truth… and felt his sanity fall away…

.oOo.

Asagao did not wait to see Morino's eyes as they rose from the stone. He had seen them before, in the face of one dearer to him than that of a spoiled, arrogant brat like Morino. And he would see them again, sooner than he desired. For he would have paid well nigh any price to never see another soul torn away by whatever nameless thing had once been buried here.

Instead he took advantage of his opponents' distraction to leap away, to where Osaku still lay. Snatching her up, he bounced on the balls of his feet and flung himself away moments before another ripple in the ground consumed them both, triangle jumping off the ruined walls to fly up into the air, cloak flapping around himself as he soared up and then down, landing lightly by where Sado was trying to pull Leodis away from where she stood staring in horrified fascination at Morino.

"Take her!" He shouted and pushed Osaku into the startled youngster's arms. "Head for Okango – I don't think that it can leave this hill, you'll be safe there."

"But," Sado jerked his head towards his sister. "Leodis…"

With his hands free there was nothing to prevent Asagao from slapping the woman brutally across the face with the back of his hand. Sado shouted something at him as he saw her fall to the ground but Leodis waved him to silence as she scrambled to her feet. The lock that had been put upon her by seeing the horror that now lived within Morino was gone now and all she could feel was a sick fear that this was indeed of her doing.

"What… who… are you…?" she asked the tall, bearded soul reaper hesitantly.

In reply he simply unfastened his sling and passed a protesting Atae to her. "I'm just an ignorant warrior," he told her sadly, "Who believes that love means you're willing to fight and die for your fellow living beings."

Then he turned and ran towards Morino, leaving the two to flee with their living burdens. Not a thought could he spare for their safety for before him was the twisted shape of one who had once thought to become a Shinigami and was now something at once both less and more. The eyes were dark, hollow pits that the Shinigami avoided meeting as Morino's body, now merely an extension of what lay beneath them both, rose from the body of the last of the swordsmen. It had been scant moments since the first ripple passed through the earth but now four of the swordsmen had been dismembered and one, the body of he that had been killed by Leodis' misdirected shaft, was a hollow sack of flesh hanging from a beam above them, like a sinister flag that howled in the night wind.

_There they stood ranged along the hillsides met to view the last of me,_ Asagao thought. _A living frame for one more picture! In a sheet of flame I saw them and I knew them all. And yet dauntless the slughorn to my lips I set and blew. Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came._

With slow deliberation, the Shinigami rolled his neck, shrugged his shoulders and loosened his joints, willing away any trace of fatigue or pain. There was nothing but the fight with him now and madness, if of a different nature, was within his eyes as much as in the eyes of his foe.

In respect of the Shinigami's preparation's Morino made his own. Night wrapped around him as the lanterns guttered and burned out, and he wrought armour out of it. Black iron and polished brass encased him, leering skulled faces and curving horns decorating the mighty plates of armour. He discarded the blade that he ahd carried for he had replacements now – a jagged bladed hatchet, the spine marked by a red eye and the wheel of fate dangling as an amulet from the haft; and in his left hand a long and fearsome blade, black as what possessed his soul and it's egdes toothed to bite at a foe. Raising the sword lightning caught upon it and rippled back and forth along it, the only light now as the storm faded into oblivion, as if afeared of the dark presence.

A daemonic voice howled wordless hunger as it charged forwards to finish the life that had escaped it once before. Asagao's voice was also raised and outside, Leodis shivered as she heard him sing out. There was death alone within the halls where her beloved had perished seven years ago and she feared that her soul would also die there should the Shinigami fail.

"The night is gone," Asagao sang out, Genzoyaibano crying out in agony for his ears alone as she clashed against the blade of the heavy broadsword. "The time has come, to find a new day has begun. An' it promises to stay," Undaunted, he danced aside and the crimson and the black whirled, sparks of fire between their weapons and the stones of the structure were ground to dust beneath their feet. "To soothe the pain of wasted years, An' kiss away the bitter tears, A love to light the way!"

His breath was steady, even, and measured as he sang the ancient cantos, letting their pace guide his sword and their passion fuel them. "And from the darkness comes a smile, That reaches out for many miles, Touching everyone." The hatchet ripped away a swathe of his cloak and took much of one sleeve with it, but his flesh was untouched and he grinned, singing: "No more shadows of the past," as a taunt to the older… spirit? Demon? Hollow? "Your spirit free to fly at last, Shining in the Sun!" He did not know it's nature saving that it was a force of destruction.

The armour was proof against Genzoyaibano's edge and his own strength, he realised. "Like the rolling thunder," he cried out defiantly, "I feel the power of love. It's a gift from Heaven, And the Lord Above."

The monster bellowed it's range and lunged, sword driving forwards as it raised the hatchet for a descedning attack. Without pause, Asagao leapt up knowing the path he must take. One sandal touched the blade and he paled as the agony Genzoyaibano had felt ripped through him but there was no time and he went on, taking another step, this one up the monster's armoured shoulder, past the raised hatchet and leapt up into the air, whirling and twisting.

"EBAAONWAADO!" he shouted, breaking from the rhythm of the song. The armoured leviathan raised it's eyes to meet his and then it's weapon to meet the descending attack that the Shinigami had committed himself to. But that was not the real attack and Asagao screamed out, "Seigun!" as he plummeted towards the revenant.

There was –

When you hear the thunder  
RIGHTBurning embers of the second death will come in the night /RIGHT  
In your darkest night,  
RIGHT Priests and kings, the alpha and omega, poison bites /RIGHT  
I'll be there to hold you  
RIGHT False prophets and deceivers, swing from the trees /RIGHT  
When the lightning strikes  
RIGHT Now dawn the age of birds Drunk with blood, like lepers with disease /RIGHT  
We walk toward desire,  
RIGHT Lord of the underworld, I swear the scared rite /RIGHT  
Hand and hand  
RIGHT I will crucify, slay them with their tribe /RIGHT  
Through fields of fire  
RIGHT They'll find no sanctuary hidden in their ancestral halls /RIGHT  
With only love to light the way  
RIGHT Let loose the knot that binds, The spirit and flesh, let it fall /RIGHT  
On the road to judgement day

- and the armour fell apart around the emptiness that was within. A flare of light was the only warning Asagao had as he fell, before an explosion of light engulfed the building, finishing the work that damage from the Reveneant's previous rising and years of neglect had done. Asagao had barely time to yelp in surprise as he was flung upwards by the forces unleashed and darkness took him.

.oOo.

A day later, Asagao, bandaged along his left arm and across his chest, standing with the aid of a crutch, watched as Leodis stared bleakly at the wall in front of her.

"She's been like this since we got back," Sado said sadly, from the door of the room in the house where Leodis and Chomei had once been married. Osaku was by his side and Asagao wondered if either of the pair had noticed that their hands were clasped. It was rather cute, although he would have died rather than admit to the thought.

He raised his hands helplessly. "There's nothing I can do for her," he told the young man. "She ate herself up with hatred and it will take time for her to recover from that. If she ever does."

"I see." Sado lowered his head. "I'm sorry to have troubled you."

The Shinigami waved it away. "Don't be. If I could help her, I would. But there's nothing broken as such, she just has a few… issues. And that's something that we all have to work out for ourselves." He frowned. "Well, maybe."

"Maybe?" Osaku asked.

Slightly hampered by his crutch, Asagao crossed the room to Leodis and knelt at her side, hissing as the movement stressed his ribs. Leaning over he whispered into her ear for a moment and then sat back on his haunches and rose once again to his full height. "Alright," he told the couple. "_Now_ I've done all that I can."

Sado looked confused but stepped back to let Asagao leave. Outside, the Shinigami waited until Osaku brought him his cloak (now repaired) and donned Atae's sling herself. The little girl nuzzled sleepily against the girl's chest for a moment and Asagao grinned before reaching over to caress her head with one hand.

"So…?" he said leadingly.

"What did you tell her?" Osaku asked as they began to walk back towards Seireitei. The girl didn't look back more than three or four times. A minute.

"I lied to her," Asagao replied. "I told her that I forgave her."

.oOo.

fin.


End file.
